78 COW BUNTING. 



She deserts her associates, assumes a drooping sickly aspect, and perches 

 upon some eminence where she can reconnoitre the operations of other 

 birds in the process of nidification. If a discovery suitable to her pur- 

 pose cannot be made from her stand, she becomes more restless, and is 

 seen flitting from tree to tree, till a place of deposit can be found. I 

 once had an opportunity of witnessing a scene of this sort which I can- 

 not forbear to relate. Seeing a female prying into a bunch of bushes 

 in search of a nest, I determined to see the result, if practicable ; and 

 knowing how easily they are disconcerted by the near approach of man, 

 I mounted my horse, and proceeded slowly, sometimes seeing and some- 

 times losing sight of her, till I had travelled nearly two miles along the 

 margin of a creek. She entered every thick place, prying with the 

 strictest scrutiny into places where the small birds usually build, and at 

 last darted suddenly into a thick copse of alders and briars, where she 

 remained five or six minutes, when she returned, soaring above the 

 underwood, and returned to the company she had left feeding in the 

 field. Upon entering the covert I found the nest of a Yellow-throat, 

 with an egg of each. Knowing the precise time of deposit, I noted the 

 spot and date with a view of determining a question of importance, the 

 time required to hatch the egg of the Cow-bird, which I supposed to 

 commence from the time of the Yellow-throat's laying the last egg. A 

 few days after, the nest w^as removed I knew not how, and I was disap- 

 pointed. In the progress of the Cow-bird along the creek's side she 

 entered the thick boughs of a small cedar, and returned several times 

 before she could prevail on herself to quit the place ; and upon exami- 

 nation, I found a SparroAv sitting on its nest, on which she no doubt 

 would have stolen in the absence of the owner. It is, I believe certain, 

 that the Cowpen finch never makes a forcible entry upon the premises 

 by attacking other birds and ejecting them from their rightful tene- 

 ments, although they are all perhaps inferior in strength, except the 

 Blue-bird, which, although of a mild as well as aff"ectionate disposition, 

 makes a vigorous resistance when assaulted. Like most other tyrants 

 and thieves they are cowardly, and accomplish by stealth what they can- 

 not obtain by force. 



" The deportment of the Yellow-throat on this occasion is not to be 

 omitted. She returned while I waited near the spot, and darted into 

 her nest, but returned immediately and perched upon a bough near the 

 place, remained a minute or two and entered it again, returned and dis- 

 appeared. In ten minutes she returned with the male. They chattered 

 with great agitation for half an hour, seeming to participate in the 

 affront, and then left the place. I believe all the birds thus intruded on 

 manifest more or less concern at finding the egg of a stranger in their 

 own nests. Among these the Sparrow is particularly punctilious ; for she 

 Bomctimes chirps her complaints for a day or two, and often deserts the 



