BOB-O-LINK, BOBLINK, REED BIRD, or RICE BIRD (dolichonyx oryzivorus or icterus acripennis), a common American bird found from Par aguay to Canada, the only one of its kind, and that difficult to classify. Some place it near the Baltimore bird (icte rus), others near starlings, but both the characteristics and the character of the bob-o-link exhibit much that is unique. In the male the head, lower surface, and tail are black, while the upper surface is lighter, yellowish white in front, black with yellow streaks behind. The color and the note change with the seasons. The female is much plainer—yellowish brown with darker streaks above, and pale grayish yellow below.
The name—originally Bob Lincoln—is an imitation of the bird's note. In song, the full-throated male bob-o-link is unique, rivaling the lark. The change of the male in color and form at the breed ing time is very striking. He becomes
black and white more emphatically, so as sometimes to be called the skunk bird, and acquires a broad form and a curi ous, mincing gait.
The bob-o-link is a bird of passage, spending the winter in the West Indies. In summer it is found as far N. as the banks of the Saskatchewan, in 54° lat., but is most plentiful in the Atlantic States and other eastern parts of the United States, where it is to be seen in every meadow and cornfield. It renders good service by the destruction of in sects and their larva?; but in the South, both in April and August, at seed time and harvest, its ravages seriously crip ple the rice-growing industry, and de stroy about a fourth of the crop. Thou sands are killed for the table. On ac count of their beauty and powers of song, many are caught, caged and sold in the markets.