CO WBIRD. 107 
his time among the cattle in the pastures, so earn- 
ing his name. 
With the cowbird, our pigeon-hole for “ black- 
birds, orioles, ete.,”’ No. 3, is as full as we shall 
make it. There are seven birds in it — the bobo- 
link, cowbird, red-winged blackbird, meadow-lark, 
crow blackbird, and oriole. Comparing them for 
a moment with the lower orders of birds we put 
- away in the drawer —the chimney swift, par- 
tridge, humming-bird, cuckoo, woodpeckers, and 
kingfisher ; and then again with the other families 
of perching birds we have had — the flycatchers 
of No. 1, the finches and sparrows of No. 4, the 
barn swallow from No. 6, and the chickadee and 
nuthatch from the “nuthatches and tits” of No. 
12, we shall see how clearly they stand out as a 
group. 
Perhaps it will be well to summarize their com- 
mon characteristics. 
BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ete. (Pigeon-hole No. 3.) 
Birds that live in the meadows. 
Meadow-lark. 
Bobolink. 
Birds with much black in plumage. (Compare 
with sparrows. ) 
Crow blackbird. 
Red-winged blackbird. 
Cowbird. 
Bobolink. 
Oriole. 
