The Savannah morning news., 1900-07-05
FLIGHT or THE BOBOLINKs.
They Come south. to BE known
There as Reed Birds and Then as
Rice Birds.
From the Washington Post


Rice Birds.
From the Washington Post
The man who has occasion to be abroad
at a late hour in these lovely summer
nights will frequently hear far up in the
blue above him strange, low, and beauti-
full murmur as of bird notes. They are
not loud, and seem to come from great
hight They aye singularly sweet. and
come from hocks of singing birds flying
at an immense distance from the earth
II is too early for the annual autumn EN-
isration. Yet when one stops to listen, the
course of this flight is clearly to the south
ward.
The explanation is one of the most in
teresting incidents in natural history. This
fight is a vast army of bobolinks going
southwark 10 undergo enc of their re-
markable transformations from beau
1iful and melo6ious song bird to a glut-
ton that finally becomes the delight of
the good liver and epcure This is one
of the most interesting features of our
bird life.
There is in all the New England states
a lovely song bird called the bobolink
The very first thing a New England coun-
This beautiful little black and white song
ster of his meadows and fields. In the ear
hest spring when the sun begins to put
new life into the living things that have
their homes i'm the meadows and pasture
lands the first bird note heard is the
short and sweet song OF the boboink
when he mounts a bush CT fence and
raises out his thanks for the coming Of
spring. He scars up forty or fifty feet into
the air and there. suspended, utters ms
short, sweet notes, hutterng his black
wings meanwhile in the purest ecstaey
Habits of the Bobolink.
Who would dream that the gray, dark
brown reed bird could ever be capable OF
so much sentiment? His little grayish-
brown wife meantime sits demurely on
fence or bush. admirinS her dashing
mate. and doubtless thinking of the best
location for the coming nest. The bobohnk
builds on The ground, and lays from -FOUR
TO six dark-bluish eggs, the larger ends
IF which are spackled with Irregular
hlotches of deep brown. The male bird
is a good husband and father He takes
his urn in sitting on the nest, while his
mate is getting her food and rest,
II takes about three weeks TO hatch out
Tho clutch of eggs And then comes the
really serious business OF the summer
which is providing the food for the young
ones in addition to that needful for the
narents themselves. Think of the thous-
ands OF mouthfuls that must be found
and carried TO the nest. II has always
been a matter of wonder how the parents
managed to distribute the food so Impair
tally that each young one gets its share
and not any more than belongs properly
10 H. but il seems always to he equally
divided. Another curious thing Is by what
means dead bird " elected from the nest
and carried some distance away. BIRD
nc has ts vicissitudes, as other life has,
and after a cold or rainy spell many nest
lings die. They are always taken fifteen
or twenty feet away from the nest ny
some unknown means and dropped there,
Annual Journey.
The Young bobolinks grow very fast, and
are soon able 10 fly and shift for them
selves. They are fully grown and able TO
take long flights before they start out
upon the long Southern tour. in which
such a transformation takes place among
the elders As soon as the young ones
are able TO look out for themselves the
narent birds make their preparations for
the annual i,5oO and even 1S.SOO-mile jour
ney. The mother bird has become fully