156 XOKTIl A.MKKICAX iilUDS. 



hlackhHrnia , I)' iKiinsylvanico and J), dvicolor, Sciurus aurocajnUus, Seioj)h(iga 

 ruticilla, t'l/ano^piza cjianca, Contopus virens, etc. I lune also known of 

 their eggs having lieen I'unnil in the nests of Virco belli ami V. pv^iillu.ti, and 

 CyanoHpiz(( mnania. Dr. Cooper has found their egg in tlie nest of Idcria 

 ■virens; and Mr. T. H. Jackson of West Chester, I'enn., in tliose oi' £mj>ido- 

 nax acadiacs and Pyranya rubra. 



Usually not more than a single Cowbird's egg is found in the same nest, 

 thougli it is not uncommon to find two ; and in a few instances three and 

 even four eggs have been met with. In one instance Mr. Trippe mentions 

 having found in the nest of a Black and White Creeper, besides three eggs 

 of the owner of the nest, no less than five of the parasite. Mr. H. S. Rod- 

 ney reports having found, in Potsdam, X. Y., May 15, 1868, a nest of Zono- 

 trichia leiicophrys of two stories, in one of which was buried a Cowbird's egg, 

 and in the upper there were tw'o more of the same, wdtli three eggs of the 

 rightful owners. In the spring of 1869 the same gentleman found a nest of 

 the SayornisfusciiA with three Cowbird's eggs and three of her own. 



Mr. Vickarv, of Lynn, found, in the spring of 1860, the nest of a Sciv.rus 

 aurocapillun, in which, with only one egg of the rightful owner, there were. 

 no less than four of the Cowbird. All five eggs were perfectly fresh, and liad 

 not been set upon. In the summer of the preceding year tlie same gentle- 

 man found a nest of the lied-eyed Vireo containing three eggs of the Yireo 

 and four of the Cow Blackbird. 



How the offspring from these eggs may all fare when more than one of 

 these voracious nurslings are hatched in the same nest, is an interesting 

 problem, well worthy the attention of some patiently inquiring naturalist to 

 solve. 



The Cow Blackbird appears in New England with a varying degree of 

 promptness, sometimes as early as the latter part of March, and as frequently 

 not until the middle of April. Nuttall states that none are seen in Massa- 

 chusetts after the middle of June until the following October, and Allen, 

 that they are tliere all the summer. My own observations do not correspond 

 with the statement of either of these gentlemen. They certainly do become 

 quite rare in the eastern part of that State after the third week in June, but 

 that all the females are not gone is proved by the constant finding of freshly 

 laid eggs up to July 1. I have never been able to find a Cow Blackbird in 

 Eastern Massachusetts between the first of July and the middle of Sep- 

 tember. This I attribute to the absence of sufficient food. In the Cambridge 

 marshes they remain until all the seeds have been consumed, and only reap- 

 pear when the new crop is ediljle. 



This Blackbird is a general feeder, eating insects, apparently in preference, 

 and wild seed. They derive tlieir name of Cow lilackbird from their keep- 

 ing about tliut animal, and finding, either iVom her ]iarasitic insects m her 

 droppings, o])|iort unities for food. They feed on the ground, and occasion- 

 ally scratch for insects. At the South, to a limited extent, they frequent 

 the rice-fields in company with the Red-winged Blackbird. 



