44 THE COWBIRD. 



Ciiwliird in the lightest juvenile phase uf plumage, a waif cuckold far 

 from anv of his kin, l_)ut shifting for himself with the nonciialance wliich 

 characterizes Iiis worthless kind. 



If (lur hem had lived (and I make nu aijulogy for his demise in the first 

 act ), lie would have exchanged his inconspicuous livery for the rich, iridescen'. 

 Ijlack nf the adult: and he would have done this on the installment plan, by 

 chunks and bli itches, looking the while like a ragpicker, tricked out in cast-ofY 

 finery. 



In the niduth of March Cowbirds mingle more or less with other 

 blackljirds in the migrations, but if the main Hock halts for refreshments 

 and discussion cii route, a, group of these rowdies will hunt up some dis- 

 reputable female of their own kind, and make tipsy and insulting advances 

 til her along some horizontal liml) or fence rail. Taking a position about 

 a foot away from the coy drab, the male will make two or three accelerating 

 hops tnward her, then stop suddenlv, allowing the impulse nf motion to tilt 

 him \iiilentl\- forward and throw his tail up iierpendicularlv . while at the 

 same moment he spews out the disgusting notes which \-oice his passion. 



Of the mating. Chapman savs : "Thev build no nest, and the females, 

 lacking ever\- nmral instinct, lea\'e their companions only long eni lUgh to 

 deposit their eggs in the nests of other and smaller birds. I can imagine 

 no' sigiit more strongly suggestive of a tboroly despicaljle nature than a 

 female Cowbird sneaking thru the trees and bushes in search (^f a victim 

 upiin whom to shift the duties of motberho-od." 



The egg. thus surreptitiously placed in another bird's nest, usually 

 hatches two or three days before those of the foster mother, and the infant 

 Cnwbird thus gains an advantage which he is not slow to improve. His 

 Inud clamoring for food often drives the nld birds tO' abandon the task of 

 incubation; or if the other eggs are allnwed to remain until hatched, the 

 uncouth stranger manages tO' usurp attention and food supplies, and not 

 infrequentl}' tO' override or stifle the other occupants of the nest, so that their 

 dead bodies are l)y-and-l_)y removed to make room for his hogship. It is 

 asserted Iw some that in the absence nf the foster parents the young thug 

 forcibly ejects the rightful heirs from the nest, after the fashion of the 

 Old World Cuckoos. I once found a nest which contained only a lust}- 

 Cowbird. while three proper fledgelings clung to the shrubbery lielow. and 

 one lay dead upon the ground. 



\\'hen the misplaced tenderness of foster parents has done its utmost 

 for the voung upstart, he jnins himself to some precious crew of his own 

 blood, and the cycle of a changeling is complete. 



While not common an_\where west of the Rockies, the Cowbird is no 

 longer rare east of the Cascades, and it is making its appearance at various 

 points on Puget Sound. The earlier writers make no mention of its occur- 



