A SUMMER CHORUS 115 



already overburdened with her own affairs. 

 Thus they are the pariahs, the outcasts of the 

 bird world. 



Cowbirds neither build nests, hatch their 

 eggs, nor feed their fledglings. Instead, this 

 unnatural bird sneaks into the nests of defence- 

 less Warblers, Vireos, and Sparrows, laying an 

 egg here and there until her full brood is depos- 

 ited, leaving the future of eggs and nestlings to 

 the tender mercies of the nest owners. In this 

 way the eggs may be scattered in a half dozen 

 nests. The young bird is much larger than the 

 other nestlings and grows so rapidly it soon fills 

 the nest, to the discomfiture and distress of the 

 rightful occupants. Sometimes the tiny in- 

 mates are pushed out of their own home by this 

 overgrown intruder. It is not easy to explain 

 why the mother bird does not pitch out the egg 

 of the Cowbird as soon as it is deposited. In- 

 stead, it often seems that she will bestow upon 

 egg and young even more tender care than upon 

 her own. It is a strange sight to see a dainty 

 Warbler or Vireo feeding a clumsy young Cow- 

 bird, much larger than herself. But these anom- 

 alies give to bird study an added interest. As 

 soon as the young Cow^birds are able to fly, they 

 seek their own and remain in flocks till they 

 depart in late fall. 



Cowbirds appear early in the spring in small 

 bands, alone, unless with English Sparrows, for 

 they are shunned by self-respecting birds. They 

 are seen with the cattle in the pasture, picking 

 up the insects disturbed by the grazing. It is an 

 interesting sight to see them perched and quietly 



