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BOBOIilNK. 213 BOCAITE. seemingly uttered in an ecstasy too vivid to per- mit of any tune or modulation. It is to this the bird owes its name, which the poets have turned to Bob-o"-Lineoln, and played upon in many verses. As summer advances the black of tho plumage of the male, which in reality is formed only by the tips of feathers, begins to wear off (see Molting), leaving the males in a rusty garb, which later becomes scarcely distinguish- able from that of the females and young. Their brilliant song dwindles to the call-note, Chink! and in August the males gather upon marshy meadows in vast flocks, where they are gradually joined and followed by their families, and the southward migration begins. By the end of Sep- tember all the bobolinks have left the northerly parts of the country, and are gathered upon southerly seaeoasts or inland marshes. At this time they are fat, and along Chesapeake Bay and the Southern 'sounds' are shot in immense num- bers under the name recd-birds as an autumn delicacy. Such as escape move on southward, where enormous flocks fall upon the ripening rioe- fields of Carolina and the Gulf coast, where they are called rice-birds. Here they do very serious damage by eating the rice-grains, and more by shaking down a vast quantity, and armies of boys are set to shoot or drive them off — a process in which a great number of other quite innocent birds are also destroyed. So systematic and se- vere has been this persecution of late years that the species has been seriously diminished, and bobolinks are becoming rare in many parts of the northeastern United States and Ontario, to the sorrow of the people, who everywhere rejoice in the presence of this merry-andrew of the mead- ows. BOBRINETS, b6-bre'nets. A thriving town in the Government of Kherson, South Russia, 120 miles north of the city of Kherson, on the high, rocky banks of a small river (Map: Russia, Do). Flour-milling and retail trading are its principal industries. In the neighborhood of Bobrinets are interesting mounds. Population, in 1890, 10,0.50; in 1897, 14,.350. BOBRUISK, b6-broo'esk. A fortress of the first class and the capital of a district in the Government of Minsk, Ru.ssia, 108 miles south- east of the city of Minsk (Map: Russia, C 4). It is situated on the high right bank of the Bere- sina, at the mouth of its tributary, the Bobruisk, and is a station for the steam-packets navigating the Dnieper and Beresina. Its manufactures are less important than its commerce, which consists principally in exports of grain and timber. Dur- ing the reign of Alexander I. it was fortified, and in 1812 it was ineffectually besieged by the French. Czar Xicholas I. converted it into a fortress of the first class. In 1902 it was almost totallv destroved bv a conflagration. Population, in Ist'lT, -24,760: in 1897, 25,100. BOBRZYNSKI, b.'.h-zhln'sk*, Michael (1849 — ). A Polish historian, bom at Cracow, in Galicia. In 1877 he was made professor of law in the University of Cracow. From 1885 to 1891 he was a memt)er of the Reichsrat. His most important publications are his Geschichte Poleiis ( 1879), which aroused much criticism on account of its bitter attacks on Poland's past, and his contributions to Lencl's Polnische Rechtsdenkniii- lem (1874-82). BOBS. . nickname given by his soldiers and by tltc Knglisli people to General T^ord Roberts. BOBSTAY. See Plate with Sinp, Armored. BOB-WHITE. An American quail. See Quail. BO'CA (Sp. boca, mouth, from Lat. bucca, cheek). A term applied to the entrance of va- rious straits and rivers, chiefly in South and Central America. ( 1 ) Boca Chica, the channel 28 miles in length which leads to Cartagena, in Colombia. (2) Boca de Xavios, the largest and most southerly outlet of the Orinoco. (3) Boca Grande, a bay of the Caribbean Sea, at the mouth of the Zucar, in Costa Rica. (4) Boca del Toro, in the Caribbean Sea. in Costa Rica, in latitude 9° 20' N. and longitude 82° W. (5) Boca Grande and Boca Chica are the two chan- nels connecting Darien Harbor with San iliguel Bay, Panama. The bays of Almirante and Chiri- qui, in Panama, are connected with the Atlantic by the bocas del Drago, del Toro, and del Tigre. BOCAGE, bO'kazh', Henri (1835—). A French dramatist, younger brother of Paul Bo- cage, who wrote comedies as well as fiction. Henri Bocage, though by profession an engineer, is the author, alone or with collaboration, of sev- eral pieces which were successful on the Paris stage. Among them may be mentioned the come- dies L'architecte de ces dames (1869) ; La canne de Damocles (1871); Vne fille d'Eve (1875); Les Irois bougies (1880) ; En partie fine ( 1884) ; and La vie a deux (1890) ; and the comic operas La girouette (1880), with music by Coed&s, and Les poupees de Vinfante (1881), with music by Grisar. BOCAGE. Pierre ^M.^btixieu Jousez ( 1797- 1863). A well-known French actor of the ro- mantic period. He was born in Rouen, and had a hard struggle with poverty and obscurity be- fore, in 1826, he secured an engagement at the Odeon. There he had some success, but later at the Gaite and Porte Saint JNIartin theatres he found a more congenial opportunity in plays of a more melodramatic character, such as Alice, ou les fossoycurs ecossais and Newgate, ou les voleurs de Londres. In Antony and the Tour de Jfesle he added so much to his reputation that he was engaged at the Theatre Francais. Among his greatest successes were those in Angete and other pieces by Alexandre Dumas. From 1845 to 1848 he was director of the Od6on, and later (1860), for a time, of the Theatre Saint Marcel. His final achievement was in the production, at the Ambigu, of Les beaux messieurs de Bois-Dori (1862). BO'CA TI'GBIS (Portug. translation of Chi- nese Hu-Mun, the tiger's mouth or gate), or The Bogue. a passage in the Canton River, China, between the island of Tycoektow on the west and the islands of An-ung-hoi and Chuen-pi on the cast. It is about 2Vi miles wide, and below it the Canton River expands into a broad estuary. The Boca Tigris contains a number of small islands, with remnants of old forts, which were repeatedly taken by the British. At present the entrance is guarded by modern fortifications. BOCAUE, hokou'a. A town of Luzon, Philip- pines, in the Province of Bulacan. It is situated about AM; miles northeast of Bulacan, a short distance from the railway line (Map: Luzon, K 7). Population. 10.400."