MARCH 337 
responsibility, drops her eggs craftily in the nests of 
other and usually smaller birds, who cannot easily resent 
the imposition; though a strong proof of the uncon- 
scious affinity of race lies in the fact that these young 
foundling Cowbirds invariably join the parent flocks in 
autumn instead of continuing with their foster-mothers. 
““The Meadowlark, with the true spring song, who hides 
his nest in the dry grass of old fields, is also kin to the 
Redwing, and the Bobolink, too, the vocal harlequin 
of the meadows and hillside pastures. The Orchard 
and Baltimore Orioles, also next of kin, are skilled musi- 
cians and model husbands. 
“Still another plane is to be found in the Redwing’s 
dismal cousins, the Grackles, — Purple, Rusty, Bronzed, 
and Boat-tailed,—all harsh of voice and furtive in 
action, as if a Crow fairy had been present at their creat- 
ing and, endowing them with ready wits, had, at the 
same time, deprived them of all sense of humour and 
cast a shadow upon their happiness. For a Grackle is 
gloomy even during the absurd gyrations of his court- 
ship, and when, in autumn, the great flocks settle on 
lawns and fields, and solemnly walk about, as they forage 
they seem like a party of feathered mutes waiting to 
attend the funeral of the year; and this trait somewhat 
tinctures the disposition of the Redwing before and 
after the breeding season. 
“The Redwing in one of his many subspecific forms, 
and masquerading under many names, — Red-shouldered 
Blackbird, American Starling, and Swamp Blackbird, 
— lives in North America from Nova Scotia and the 
Great Slave Lake southward to Costa Rica. The 
Z 
