Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume II.djvu/786

 766 BOAVISTA BOBOLINK fresh water, darting thence on fishes which happen to swim beneath it ; from its generic name, it is supposed to feed also on crahs, Boatbill. which it could readily crush in its powerful hill ; on the ground it has very much the gait, attitudes, and air of the herons. It is some- times called " savacou." BOAVIST1, or Bonayista, an island of Africa, the easternmost of the Cape Verd islands, in lat. 16 13' N., Ion. 22 56' W. ; pop. about 3,000. The island is pentagonal in form, about 20 m. in length, and has two basaltic peaks in the centre. The manufacture of salt is the chief occupation of the inhabitants. There are three ports for large vessels, Porto Sal Key, Porto do Norte, and Porto Curralinho. Kabil is the capital. BOBADILLA, Francisco de, a Spanish governor of Hispaniola or Santo Domingo, died June 29, 1502. Owing to the complaints of maladmin- istration against Columbus made by the colo- nists of Santo Domingo, it was determined by Ferdinand and Isabella to despatch a commis- sioner to inquire into the condition of that colony ; and Bobadilla, a knight of Calatrava, and an arrogant, incompetent person, was se- lected for this office in 1500. He was intrusted with unlimited powers, which upon his arrival at Santo Domingo he immediately exerted by arresting Columbus, putting him in chains, and sending him to Spain. The outrage excited general indignation in Spain, and was regarded as a national dishonor. Columbus was rein- stated in his honors and emoluments, and be- fore his departure upon his fourth voyage or- ders had already been sent for the recall of Bobadilla, under whose administration disor- ders had multiplied to an alarming extent. Columbus landed again in the harbor of His- paniola on the day when the fleet bearing Bobadilla and other enemies of Columbus started for Spain. This fleet was hardly out of sight when it was wrecked by a hurricane and Bobadilla perished. BOBOLINK, or Rite Banting (tmberiza oryzi- vora, Linn. ; doliehonyx oryzivorw, Swains.), the rice bird or ortolan of Georgia and Caro- lina, the reed bird of the middle states, and the bobolink of the north and northwest, mi- gratory through the whole length of the North American continent and islands, from Labra- dor to Mexico and the Antilles. The plumage of the male bird is entirely different at various seasons. The bobolink winters mainly in the western isles, and not in the tropical parts of this continent. Early in spring the birds he- gin to appear in the southern states in small parties, the females often preceding the males, tarrying only a few days, seen only in small companies, and for the most part making their journeyings by night. In the first days of May they appear in Massachusetts, gayly clad in full dress, and in full song, and at this period are neither gregarious nor predatory, though on their northern voyage they damage the crops of young grain. The length of the bobo- link is about 7y inches; the male, in his spring dress, has the upper part of the head, shoul- ders, wings, tail, and the whole of the under plumage black ; lower part of the back blu- ish white ; scapulars, rump, and tail coverts white ; there is a large patch of brownish yel- low on the nape and back of the neck ; bill bluish black, which in the female, young male, and adult, after the month of June, is pale flesh color ; the feathers of the tail formed like a woodpecker's ; legs brown. The female, whose plumage the adult male assumes after the breeding season, has the back streaked with brownish black ; the whole lower parts of a dull yellow. The young birds have the dress of the female. During the breeding sea- son they frequent cool, grassy meadows, which Bobolink (Doliehonyx oryzivorus). they render vocal with their quick, merry song, the male singing to the female while she is sit- ting. " He chants out," says Wilson, "such a