HOST RELATIONS OF PARASITIC COWBIRDS 131 



There are at least two records of a redwing hatching and rearing a 

 cowbird : an instance told to me years ago by the late Waldron de Witt 

 Miller, occuring in New Jersey, and a case reported by Blocher (1924). 

 In the latter instance, the nest contained three young redwings and 

 one cowbird when first found, but only the parasite survived. 



In Nebraska, Wolcott (1899, p. 18) noted the two-storied nest of a 

 redwing, in the lower part of which a cowbird's egg was buried. He 

 wrote that, in his experience, the redwings, when parasitized after 

 they already have laid some eggs themselves, "apparently peck holes 

 in all, including that of the intruder, and desert the nest." Such be- 

 havior would be most interesting, but there is no way to rule out the 

 possibility that the holes were not the work of marsh wrens or other 

 creatures coming upon a deserted nest. 



Orchard Oriole 

 Icterus spurius (Linnaeus) 



The orchard oriole is a fairly frequent host of the brown-headed cow- 

 bird, but the actual records noted are few in number — ^only 18 in all. 

 Supplementing the actual instances there are statements such as one 

 made by Bendire (1895, p. 481) to the effect that, in the northern 

 parts of its range, the orchard oriole is "more or less imposed upon by 

 the cowbird . . ." and the statement made by R. W. Quillin (in litt.) 

 that around San Antonio, Texas, this oriole very frequently is parasit- 

 ized. The actual cases have come from Ontario (Essex and Kent 

 Counties), Rhode Island, Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Ohio, 

 Indiana, Alichigan, Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Tennessee, Oldahoma, 

 and Texas. Two races of the parasite, ater and obscurus, are involved. 

 Although he does not mention any specific records of parasitism in 

 New Mexico, Ligon (1961, p. 262) wi-ites that the scarcity of the 

 orchard oriole in that state may be due partly to the fact that it 

 suffers from the attentions of the cowbird. 



Black-headed Oriole 



Icterus graduacauda Lesson 



There is a single record of this oriole, race audubonii, as a host of 

 the southwestern race, obscurus, of the brown-headed cowbird. Near 

 Brownsville, Texas, in May, 1924, I found a nest of this oriole con- 

 taining 1 egg of the dwarf cowbird, 1 of the red-eyed cowbird, Tan- 

 gavius aeneus, and none of the oriole. When found, the nest had been 

 deserted. 



Hooded Oriole 



Icterus cucullatus Swainson 



The hooded oriole has been recorded a few times as a victim of the 

 dwarf race, obscurus, of the brown-headed cowbu'd in California, 



