branches of the tree in wliicli the nest had been ])lace(l. Rut soon this area 

 became too limited for his ambitious spirit, for at the end of the second week 

 he was flitting from bush to bush, his foster parents ]ir(ividinc: for him all the 

 while. Two weeks more and he was a fnll-])ledo;ed bird. 



The fate of nearly all the yoinig birds which have the misfortune to be 

 hatched with the Cowbird for a companion seems to be similar to that of the 

 sparrow thus described. I have yet to see a nest containing young birds of 

 both species more than a few (Ii\s old: by that time the rightful offspring 

 are either smothered or crowded out of the nest bv their stronger foster brother, 

 or starved, and he then absorbs tlie entire attention of the parents. Only in 

 cases where these are as large or larger than the imi)(>stor is there likely to be 

 an occasional exception to this rule. 



It can readily be seen what an immense amount of harm a Cowbird causes 

 in the economy of nature, granting that only a single one of its eggs is hatched 

 in a season. A brood of insectivorous and useful birds is sacrificed for every 

 Cowbird raised ; and the Cowbirds are certainly not diminishing in numbers. 



The eggshell of the Cowbird is com])act. granulated, moderately glossy and 

 relatively strong. The ground color varies from an almost pure white to grayish 

 white, and less often to jiale bluish or milky white, and this is usually covered 

 over its entire surface with S]>ecks and blotches varying in color from chocolate 

 to claret brown, tawny and cinnamon rufous. 



The Short-Billed Marsh Wren {Cutothoms steiiaris) 



By Lynds Jones 



Length : 4 to 4'/^ inches. 



Range : Eastern United States, north to southern New Hampshire, southern 

 (Ontario, southern Michigan and southern Manitoba, and west to the Plains, 

 winters in South Atlantic and Gulf States. 



Description. — Adult: .Above everywhere streaked or larred with blackish, 

 ochraceous, and white ; a little clearer ochraceous on hind neck ; wings and tail 

 heavily barred, the former only on exposed webs, a very faint, pale superciliary 

 line ; below white, clear on throat and belly, washed with ochraceous-bui¥y on 

 sides of neck, across breast, and on sides ; flanks and crissum darker ochraceous 

 or tawny; bill short, dark brown above, pale below; culmen slightly decurved ; 

 feet light brown. 



Recognition Marks. — Pygmy size ; heavy dorsal and coronal streaking in 

 three shades distinctive ; unbarred below as compared with preceding species ; 

 bill mvich shorter than that of the next species. 



Nest, near the ground, in a tussock of grass — a globe formed by bringing 

 the live grass-blades together, and interweaving with vegetable fibres and dried 



452 



