98 COWBIRD 



to him. Who is not conscious of a thrill of plea- 

 sure at sight of one of the handsome birds sailing 

 down to a fence with scarlet epaulettes fairly 

 standing out on his shoulders, and who can but 

 respond to the sight of a flock swinging over the 

 blades of a marsh ? The birds of the lawn have 

 their own place in our affections, but the o-ka-lee 

 of the Ked-wing stirs associations whose richness is 

 all their own. Bolles sj^eaks of the theory that all 

 bird music is imitative of the sounds best known 

 to the species, and this seems to be borne out by 

 the notes of the Red-wings, for they have 'the 

 sound of water running through their sweet mea- 

 sures.' 



Cowbird : Molotlirus ater. 



Adult male, head and neck brown ; rest of plumage glossy black 



with metallic reflections. Adult female, dark brownish gray, 



lighter below. Length, about 8 inches. 

 Geographic Distribution. — Breeds from Texas to New 



Brunswick and Manitoba ; rarer in the western United States ; 



winters from southern Illinois and Virginia southward to 



Mexico. 



' Buffalo Bird ' used to be one of the names of 

 the Cowbird on the plains, and Major Bendire 

 says that in the prairie states now " one will 

 rarely see a bunch of cattle without an attend- 

 ing flock of Cowbirds, who perch on their backs, 

 searching for parasites." This occupation is not 

 interrupted by the ordinary cares of family life, 

 for the Cowbird builds no nest of its own, but 

 foists its offspring upon its neighbors. 



