Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1921-06-10
STUDIES. IN
NATURAL HISTORY
BY JAMES HENRY RICE, Jr.
THE HOBoLINk.


Order-Passeres; Genus, Dolichonyx;
Family, 1cteridae; Species Cryztyor-
Gus. :: --f -. ~.
Dolichonyx is from the Greek, doll
chos. long, and nux. claw. Oryziv6rs
Gus also comes from the Greek, Oru2a
CLatin, oryza), rice; but the last half
Of the word is from the Latin, voro,.
devour;:. hence literally long -clawed
rice ter. .-l..t.., =.
The Bobolink Of, the North is the
Rice-Bird Of hit e South, and the But
r-Bird, Of jamaica; also the Reed
Bird of the Middle states:
Darwin, In his great book of travels,
The Voyage Of the Beagle, which no
we'll informed man can afford to leave
unread, says that he found small
North American finch, Dolichonyx
orzivorous, on the Galapagos islands,
which lie six or seven hundred miles
off the coast Of Ecuador. Laboring
under the impression that these islands
had never formed part Of the contin-
ent Darwin began to form, his, now
famous theory Of Natural Selection,
which Is better known as, the Eyolu-
tion Hypothesis. But the islands die
once form part Of the mainland Of
South America, proof Of which is
abundant and convincing. One proof,
had he been more Of an ornithologist,
was found in the presence Of a Bobo-
link, which migrated in the track Of
his ancestorsI made when they flew
over dry land .
/. Sexes Unlike in PIumase
The sexes are unlike only In breed
ing plumage, for they are not dlstin-
guished after the breeding season.
The male has the ground color black;
the neck. seapulars, rump and upper
tail-coverts, are ashy-white; between
the scapulara he Is streaked with
black, buff and ashy. outer quills edged
with yellowish; bill blackish horn; feet
brown. 'r-;::..y -.
The nuptial dress of white. buff and
black is worn for a brief period, when
after moult, the bird becomes, Of the
streaked .yellowish cast Of the eifemale.
The change occurs lin spring by the
simple dropping Of the tips Of the
feathers (known as .aptosochroma-
t.sm), revealing the black beneath.
The male and females in fail are yell
lowish brown above: and brownish- :
yellow below The male; is known by
superior size. The. young are. similar
in color. ).
The tips Of the tail feathers are
sharp, almost like those OF. some wood
peckeTs. -
A petirious. Sonsster. -.
During his short stay In the, North
the Bobolfnk Is delirious songster,
brimful Of melody. until after moult |;
but on his passage south his insect
t. kor hn
gorge on grain. especially on rice. In
the. old dp.ys.a, swarm of 'Bobolinks
C"Rice- Birtls'') would destroy a field
of rice in day. unless kept off: by
bird -minders," as negro. boys were
called. These, armed. with muskets
and given cheap powder, without shot,
kept up a constant firing, the noise OF
which suggested a. .battie.- shot was
allowed for the boys would then stop
to pick up birds and allow a. flock to
feed. =.
The birds were taken at night along
the ricefeld bitches. where they
roasted. After. becoming. fat, they
were sound sleepers and were easily
picked off the weeds and reeds, their
necks %pinched and; the dead. birds drop
ped in the boat. One firm in George
town formerly sent out sixty thousand
dozen in season, sold at a dollar a
dozen. -,
For many years there seemed to be
no appreciable decrease; but within
the past twenty years Bobolinks have
no longer occurred in the vast Hooks
of other days.
The nest is built on the ground, or
near it, with from four to seven stone
gray eggs. variously marked a Id mot
tied, the patterns being Intricate, and
variable.