218 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



return to the neigliborhood of Boston, where, at that season, 

 they are most often seen in small flocks, in which the females 

 predominate. In moving about the country, the^'^ generally 

 perch on or near the tops of trees, and from the very summit 

 of some pine their notes may often be heard. They feed upon 

 seeds, and upon insects, particularly beetles, to obtain which 

 they frequent roads, pastures, and ploughed lands. From 

 their fondness of seeking food about cattle their common name 

 has arisen. When on the ground, they move with an extremely 

 awkward gait, which is ordinarily a walk, though occasionally 

 more rapid in the pursuit of some insect. The male pays his 

 court, such as it is, to several females indifferentlj^ and these 

 latter, when ready to lay, retire from the flock. Thej'^ become 

 anxious, skulk about from bush to bush and tree to tree, as if 

 troubled by a guilty conscience, and watch the motions of the 

 smaller birds. On discovering a nest, they seize the oppor- 

 tunity of absence on the part of its owners to drop their eggs, 

 and then return to their companions, relieved of anxiety. 

 After these ceremonies one both hears and sees less of the 

 Cow-birds than before, until the autumn, when, joined by their 

 young, they often form large flocks. They are then chiefly 

 dependent upon seeds, and are less common in pastures. 



(d)' There is something ludicrous, and yet pitiable, in the 

 efforts of the male to express his pas^ons musically. It is of- 

 ten as painful to hear him and see him, as to converse with one 

 who stutters badly. He ruffles his feathers, spreads his wings 

 and tail, gives a convulsive movement to his body, and yet 

 produces nothing but a shrill, unmusical cluck-see. He often 

 adds to this, or splutters out at other times, a chattering call, 

 quite distinct from that of any other bird, or utters a few low 

 guttural notes, not audible at a distance. He has in common 

 with other members of his family a loud chuck; but he is not 

 wholly destitute of musical powers. One may often hear in 

 spring from the top of some tree, a clear, pensive, but rather 

 shrill whistle, usually followed by a few similar but falling 

 notes. These belong to the Cow-bird, who also whistles some- 

 times as he takes to wing. 



