HOST RELATIONS OF PARASITIC COWBIRDS 135 



found at Gustine, California, on June 6, 1932, by H. R. Eschenberg 

 (Friedmann, 1943, p. 355). 



Common Grackle 



Quiscalus quiscula (Linnaeus) 



This species is a rarely victimized bird ; only six instances have come 

 to my attention. Because the grackle is much larger than the cowbird 

 and also very aggressive — well able to drive off an intruder — it is not 

 surprising that the bird rarely is molested. All the records refer to 

 the race versicolor of the grackle. One record, from North Dakota, 

 refers to the race artemisiae of the parasite; the others, to typical ater. 

 The North Dakota instance was found by Alfred Eastgate, who wrote 

 to me about it without giving an exact locality or date. There is one 

 record from Texas, where Strecker (1927, p. 47) found a parasitized 

 nest in McLennan County. In Illinois, Strumberg (1879, p. 79) 

 reported a nest at Galesburg, mth 5 eggs of the grackle and 1 of the 

 cowbird. Barnes (1918, p. 109) found a nest with 4 eggs of the victim 

 and 2 of the parasite; he wrote to me that he had in his collection 

 two parasitized sets of grackle eggs, both collected "May 10, 1896, a 

 little over one mile from this place (Lacon, Illinois) in the overflow 

 bottoms of the Illinois River, both nests in willow trees, one only 

 eighteen inches above the water and the other four feet up. Each of 

 the nests contained one Cowbird [egg] and all of the eggs were fresh, 

 the nests were less than a hundred feet apart; never before or since 

 have I found Cowbird's eggs in the nest of this species." In the 

 collections of the California Academy of Sciences there is a cowbird 

 egg taken from a grackle's nest near Winchester, Illinois, on April 26, 

 1889, by W. C. Hutchinson. 



It should be pointed out that Bent (1958, p. 415) referred to a 

 record of cowbird parasitism on the grackle in Iowa. This may be 

 based on Keyes and Williams (1888, pp. 24-25), who made a statement 

 which suggests, without actually giving explicit data, that the common 

 graclde is parasitized in Iowa. What they wrote is that, early in the 

 season before the smaller species of birds have begun to nest, the 

 cowbird is forced to lay in the nests of larger species — among which 

 they list the bronzed graclde. 



Western Tanager 



Piranga ludoviciana (Wilson) 



The western tanager has been reported as a victim of the brown- 

 headed cowbird only three times to my knowledge. E. M. Tait wrote 

 me that he found two parasitized nests at Trout Creek Point, British 

 Columbia. One contained young of both the victim and the parasite; 

 the other held eggs of both species. A. D. Henderson informed me 



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