To  Bob.     1.  To  fish  for  eels  with  a  bob.     This  word  is  common  in  New
England,  and  is  used  in  the  same  sense  in  England.
These  are  the  baits  they  bob  with.  —  Beaumont  and  Fletcher,
Let  others  bend  their  necks  at  sight

Of  fashion's  gilded  wheels,
He  ne'er  had  learned  the  art  to  hob

For  any  thing  but  eels. — Saxe,  The  Cold  Water  Mem.
2.  To  cut  short,  as  the  hair.  You  have  been  bobbed,  expresses  famil-
iarly that  your  hair  has  been  cut.  This  recalls  Shakspeare's  "  bob-tail,"
«  bob-wig."

Bobolink.  (^Icterus  agripejinis.)  A  lively  little  bird,  so  called  from  its
notes,  which  in  the  fall  frequents  the  wild  rice  of  shallow  rivers  and
marshes,  where  it  becomes  very  fat.  It  is  highly  esteemed  by  epicures.
Other  popular  names  by  which  it  is  known  in  different  parts  of  the  country
are  Rice-bird,  Rice-bunting,  Reed-bird,  Meadow-bird,  May-bird,  Butter-
bird,  American  Ortolan,  and,  lastly  —  and  most  inappropriately  —  Skunk
Blackbird.
The  happiest  bird- of  our  spring  is  the  Bobolink.  This  is  the  chosen  season  of
revelry  for  him.  He  comes  amidst  the  pomp  and  fragrance  of  the  season ;  his  life
seems  all  sensibility  and  enjoyment,  all  song  and  sunshine. — W.  Irving,  Wolfert's
Roost.
Philosophers  may  teach  thy  whereabouts  and  nature,

But  wise,  as  all  of  us,  perforce,  must  think  'em.
The  school-boy  best  has  fix'd  thy  nomenclature.
The  poets,  too,  must  call  thee  Bob-o-Linkum.  — Hoffman,  Poems.
Bob-sled.  A  sled  prepared  for  the  transportation  of  large  timber  from
the  forest  to  a  river  or  public  road.     Maine.
4*


42  BOC  — BON

BoCKEY.     (Dutch,   boJcaal.)     A  bowl  or  vessel  made  from  a  gourd.     A

term  peculiar  to  the  city  of  New  York  and  its  vicinity.
