FOREIGN BIRDS FOR CAGE AND AVIARY. 



tail with purplish. Hab., Mexico, Yucatan, Guatemala 

 and southward to Veragua, 



Dr. Frantzius says : " This beautiful bird occurs in 

 companies, especially at the commencement of the dry 

 season in ' Costa Rica, and disappears as eoon as the 

 rainy season commences ; at the same time it may often 

 be met with even in the middle of the rainy season if, 

 owing to continuous north-east wind, dry weatlier pi-e- 

 vails for gome weeks. I have discovered nothing 

 respecting its nidification. In Costa Rica one notices 

 these birds perching in thickly foliaged trees, where 

 they chatter together after the "manner of .Starlings, or 

 they sit in long rowe on tlie ridges of roofs. They find 

 plenty of food in the market-place, where they busily 

 pick up the fallen grains of maize and rice, and then 

 t^how very little nervousness." (Russ, " Fremdlandischen 

 Stubenvogel," II., p. 569.) 



It is possible that this may be the species of which 

 Mr. Beebe writes ("Two "Bird-lovers in Mexico," 

 p. 117) : "Cow-birds with red eyes chased grasshoppers 

 and other insects." 



Boucard ("Proceedings of the Zoological Society," 

 1883, pp. 445. 446) observes : " This bird is very 

 abundant in all part.s of Yucatan. It lives in flocks, 

 and generally frequents liarn-yards and cow-pens. I 

 have frequently .seen it perched upon the back of a horse 

 or cow, in order to pick maggots out of old sores. These 

 sores are very prevalent among draught horses in Y^uca- 

 tan, and wherever there is a sore the flies soon populate 

 it with their larvae ; the sore then spreads, and hundreds 

 of maggots may be extracted from a single sore. In 

 the intolerable laziness and neglect of these people to 

 attend to wounded animals, it seems as if God had sent 

 this bird as a mierciful surgeon to clean the foul ulcers 

 of poor helpless bnites." 



Russ spoke of this as one of the rarest birds in the 

 European trade, and one which, so far as he knew, had 

 oidy been once seen at the Berlin Zoological Gardens ; 

 but. coming from ilexico and Central America, 

 it is far more likely to be imported now than North 

 American species. 



ARf:ENTINE OR SiLKY CoW-BIRD (MollltlirUS 



bonariensis) . 



Uniform shining purplish blue-black ; less lustrous on 

 wings and tail ; 'bill and feet black ; irides brown ; 

 length 7iin. Female slightly .smaller, deep ashy or 

 mouse-brown, mottled with black; paler below; bill 

 smaller and naiTOwer than in male. Hab., Argentina, 

 Patagonia, Paraguay, Uruguay, Bolivia, and Brazil. 



Hudson devotes nearly fourteen pages to an account 

 of the habits of this species, but it seems to have much 

 in common with other Cow -birds ; I quote the following 

 from p. 75 of his " Argentine Ornithology " : " They feed 

 on the ground, where in their movements and in the 

 habit the male has of craning out its neck when dis- 

 turbed they resemble Starlings. The male has also a 

 curious habit of carrying his tail raised vertically while 

 feeding. They follow the domestic cattle about the 

 pastures, and frequently a dozen or moi-e birds may be 

 seen perched along the back of a cow or horse. When 

 the animal is grazing they gi-oup themselves close to its 

 mouth, like chickens round a hen when she .scratches 

 up the ground, eacer to snatch up the small insects 

 exposed where the grass is cropped close. In spring they 

 also follow the plough to pick up worms and gi-ubs. 



" The song of the male, particularly when making 

 love, is accompanied with gestures and actions some- 

 what like tho.se of the domestic pigeon. He swells him- 

 self out, beating the ground with his wings, and uttering 

 a series of deep internal notes, followed by others loud 



and clear ; and occasionally, when uttering them, he 

 suddenly takes vring and flies directly away from the 

 female to a distance of fifty yards, and performs a wide 

 circuit about her in the air, singing all the time. The 

 homely object of his short-lived passion always appears 

 indifferent to this curious and pretty performance ; yet 

 she must be even more impressionable than most, female 

 birds, since she continues scattering about her para- 

 sitical and often wasted eggs during four months in 

 every year. The language consists of a long aiote with 

 a spluttering sound, to express alarm or curiosity, and 

 she occasionally chatters in a low tone, as if trj-ing to 

 sing. In the evening when the feirds congi-egate on the 

 trees to roost they often continue singing in concert 

 untd. it is quite dark ; and when disturbed at night the 

 males frequently utter their song while taking flight, 

 reminding one of the Icterus pijrrhnpicrus, ivliich has 

 only its usual melody to express fear and other painful 

 emotions. On rainy days, when they are driven to the 

 slielter of trees, they will often sing together for hours 

 without intermission, the blending of innumerable voices 

 producing a rushing sound as of a high wind. At the 

 end of summer they congi'egate in flocks of tens of thou- 

 sands, so that the ground where they are feeding seems 

 carpeted with black, and the trees when they alight 

 appear to have a black foliage." 



Respecting the eggs, Mr. Hudson says (pp. 78, 79) : 

 "There is an extraordinary diversity in the colour, form, 

 and disix>sition of markings, etc., of the eggs of M. 

 bonariensis ; and I doubt whether anyotiher species exists 

 laying eggs so varied. About half the eggs one finds, 

 or nearly half, are pure unspotted white, like the eggs 

 of birds that breed in dark holes. Others are sparsely 

 sprinkled with such exceedingly minute specks of pale 

 pink or gi'ey as to appear quite spotless xmlil closely 

 examined. After the pure white, the most common 

 variety is an egg with a white ground, densely and 

 uniformly spotted or blotched with red. Am^ther not 

 uncommon variety has a very pale flesh-coloured ground, 

 imiformJy marked with fine characters, that look as if 

 inscribed on the sliell with a pen. A much rarer variety 

 has a pure white shell with a few large or variously- 

 sized chocolate spots. Perhaps the rare.st vai-iety is an 

 egg entirely of a fine deep red : Ijut between this lovely 

 marbled egg and the white one with almost inii>erceptible 

 specks there are varieties without nmnber ; for there 

 is no such thing as characteristic markings in the egg 

 of this .species, although, as I have said before, the 

 eggs of the same individual .show a family resemblance."" 



Russ says that this is one of the commonest birds- 

 in the Geraian market, and generally finds purchasers 

 on account of its cheap price. 



The SUky Cow-bird is not a pleasant avdary pet, for 

 ;Ulhough not aggressive, extremely easy to keep, and 

 very long-lived, it never becomes tame, but, after years 

 of association with its owner, remains as wild and 

 nervous, if he approaches the aviary, as when first 

 turned out ; even in a cage it can never be called a con- 

 fiding bird. I must confess that I was thankfid when 

 my friend, Mr. Pool, took a fancy to my pair and chose 

 them as part of an exchange. I hope he never repented. 

 Mr. Page did not hold my opinion of the species, as he 

 seems to have possessed a pair which became tolerably 

 confiding. I had previously had a slightly larger male 

 from Brazil, but it was just as wild and nervous as the 

 Argentine birds. 



I am satisfied, from the fact that I have kept this 

 species for years in perfect health and plumage upon 

 .seed alone, that Cow-birds pick up quite as many seeds- 

 of weeds as they do insects and grubs. 



Neither of the males which I kept ever uttered a note- 



