THE COWBIRD 



American Blackbird Family — Icteridoe 



Length: About 8 inches. 



Male: Glossy black, with a brown head, neck, and breast; 

 some metallic reflections on body, tail, and upper 

 wing-feathers. Smaller than the grackle, with a 

 shorter tail, less iridescence, and dark eyes. Like the 

 grackle, the cowbird is a walker. 



Female: Dark brown, with a grayish tinge; under parts 

 lighter, especially the throat, which has two dark 

 streaks outlining the light patch. 



Call-note: A loud chuck. 



Song: No real song, only a disagreeable gurgle, that is emit- 

 ted with great efifort. 



Habitat: Pastures and open woodlands; usually seen on the 

 ground, but sometimes in trees. 



Range: North America. Breeds in central Canada, south to 

 northern California, Nevada, northern New Mexico, 

 Texas, Louisiana, and North Carolina; winters from 

 southeast California and the Ohio and Potomac Val- 

 leys to the Gulf Coast and Central Mexico. 



THE four common black birds — crows, grackles, red- 

 wings, and cowbirds — all have sins laid at their 

 doors. Crows and blackbirds are grain-thieves and de- 

 stroyers of the eggs and young of other birds; redwings 

 have been accused of polygamy and tlieft; but if judged 

 by human standards, none compare with cowbirds in what 

 might be called moral degeneracy. Cowbirds not only 

 mate promiscuously, but unlike blackbirds, have no re- 



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