of the United States of America, 63 



larger egg brought nearer to the body than her own, is, conse- 

 quently, better warmed, and sooner hatched ! " 



Mr. Nuttall appears to be the only writer who was ac- 

 quainted with the fact, that the young cow bunting, and the 

 young of the foster-bird, are sometimes reared together ; and 

 he conjectures that, " from the great size of the parasite, the 

 legitimate young are often stifled." This author says that he 

 has " remarked, sometimes, two of these eggs in the same nest; 

 but in this case one of them commonly proves abortive." If 

 one, commonly, proves abortive, both, sometimes, must hatch. 

 Now, as Mr. Nuttall does not inform us that he ever saw two 

 cow buntings in the same nest, we are compelled to infer that 

 the circumstance of abortion is related at second hand. 



" The cow bird," says Wilson, " continues to be seen so 

 late as the middle of June; after which we see no more of them 

 until about the beginning or middle of October." That this 

 was an oversight of our excellent ornithologist ; nay, that he 

 himself, in the hurry of composition, stated what his own 

 knowledge disproved; is evident from his assertion, that he 

 had observed the yellow bird, or goldfinch (.Fringilla tristis), 

 performing the duty of nurse to the cow bunting. This over- 

 sight has been the occasion of Wilson's veracity being called 

 in question by Mr. Nuttall ; who, in his history of the Ameri- 

 can goldfinch, observes that, " from the late period at which 

 they begin to breed, it is impossible they can ever act in the ca- 

 pacity of nurses to the cow troopial I " If Mr. Nuttall had 

 taken the pains of extending his enquiries into these matters, 

 he would have learned that the cow bunting is common in 

 Pennsylvania in the month of July, the season of the nidifica- 

 iion of the goldfinch; and that, therefore, there was no occasion 

 to insinuate a want of veracity in one whose noblest charac- 

 teristic was his inflexible adherence to truth. It will be seen, 

 hereafter, from my observations, that a cow bunting's egg 

 was deposited in an indigo bird's nest as late as the 20th of 

 July. I would, finally, add, in vindication of my friend, that 

 I myself have seen a cow bunting's egg in the nest of the 

 goldfinch. 



It appears to be' the prevailing opinion, that, if the cow bird 

 deposits her egg in a nest wherein the owner has not yet begun 

 to lay, the nest is either deserted forthwith, or the egg of the 

 intruder is so buried by the addition of fresh materials, that it 

 becomes abortive. On this head I am not prepared to speak, 

 further than that the opinion wears the appearance of pro- 

 bability. On the 11th of June, last year, I found the nest 

 of the red-eyed flycatcher (Muscicapa olivacea Wils.) con- 

 taining a cow bird's egg, and one of her own. As, from the 



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