26 



THE OOLOGIST 



As the field of standing grass be- 

 came narrow she would fly across, 

 alighting just ahead of the horses, and 

 being nearly stepped upon, for she 

 showed no sign of fear of either the 

 team or clash and clatter of the mow- 

 ing machine. 



It was the work of hauling in of the 

 crop that the Cowbird appeared to 

 take the most pleasure; there was 

 more stops and we were not constantly 

 moving away; then she had a chance 

 to be near (under foot), and if the 

 day be especially bright and hot she 

 would rest underneath the load in 

 the shade; there I would pass her 

 grasshoppers to eat from off the fork 

 tine. Often I would have to drive her 

 off a bunch of hay before I could place 

 it on the cart. 



She would follow the load of hay 

 nearly to the barn, there await the 

 unloading. In going to the field to 

 load again the Cowbird would make 

 short flights to keep up, sometimes 

 even alighting on the cart for a rest. 



The reader has no doubt decided 

 that the cause of the Cowbird's attach- 

 ment to us during our haying oper- 

 ations was the chance to catch the 

 bugs and grasshoppers we distiirbed, 

 and while the bird did catch and eat 

 many such, yet he should also remem- 

 ber that there were just as many in 

 other fields that had been cut over, 

 where we were not working; there- 

 fore this tameness was not caused by 

 hunger. 



What became of this Cowbird 1 do 

 not know — since after cutting the hay 

 on the home place I commenced on 

 another several miles distant and thus 

 lost sight of her. 



Food habits— The habit of the Cow- 

 bird feeding among cattle, usually 

 close to the head is well known by 

 most observers. Their food consists 

 of seeds, grains, berries and insects; 

 grasshoppers, grubs and worms are 



eaten in large quantities. The grains 

 eaten are loose or waste grains; they 

 do not destroy growing grains. As 

 mentioned above, the Cowbird which 

 attended me through the haying 

 season, would eat grasshoppers until 

 it could hold no more, but as digestion 

 progressed it was soon up and at them 

 again. Judd includes the Cowbird 

 among those most actively engaged 

 in consuming weed seed; also included 

 among which are the least injurious 

 to crops. 



Beal in his summary of the results 

 of the examinations of 544 stomachs 

 of the Cowbird reports that 20 per 

 cent, of the Cowbird's food consists 

 of insects which are either harmful or 

 annoying; 16 per cent, is grain, the 

 certainty of one-half being waste. 

 More than 50 per cent consists of nox- 

 ious weed seeds, the destruction of 

 which is a benefit. 



Breeding habits — How many eggs 

 does a cowbird lay? Who knows? 

 Here is a chance for our Ornitholog- 

 ical scientist to earn fame for himself 

 without making two Cowbirds grow 

 where only one grew before. In- 

 stances are known of seven eggs of 

 the Cowbird being found in one nest, 

 but whether they were deposited by 

 one female is not known. Bendire sets 

 the number that might be the produc- 

 tion of one female at 60 to 100, but 

 has no proof. Bendire also cites the 

 nests of some 90 species in which 

 the eggs of the Cowbird have been 

 found. The Cowbird lays its eggs in 

 nearly all of the smaller birds' nests; 

 in this locality preference being for 

 those of the Yellow Warbler and Red- 

 eyed Vireo. The Cowbird will some- 

 times throw out the eggs of the right- 

 ful owner to make room for its own. 

 Eifrig— Auk Vol. XXXVI— reports 

 finding Cowbirds' eggs in the nests of 

 the Meadowlark; one nest containing 

 two of the Cowbird and four of the 



