22 THE NEST THAT FAILED. 



terwoven. It contained four eggs, one much larger than 

 the others, as shown in the picture, and we knew by this 

 larger egg that the vireos were being imposed upon. For 

 it was a cow-bird's egg, laid there by a bird too unskilful 

 or too lazy to build a nest for herself, and too shiftless to 

 care for her 3-oung, 



After the nest had been photographed, we took the egg 

 away, for, if it remained, there would in time have been a 

 young cow-bird hatched, which would clamor so loudly 

 and persistently that the vireos would be kept hard at 

 work feeding it, to the neglect of their own little ones. 

 Worse still, as the greedy thing grew larger and stronger, 

 it would crowd the young vireos out of the nest, to die on 

 the ground beneath. Then, when it was grown up, it 

 would not stay with the vireos or anj' other respectable 

 birds, but would go in the compan}- of other cow-birds that 

 had been hatched and reared in the same way. 



The scientists have named it Molothrus Ater, the black 

 vagabond or greedy fellow, and it deserves its name. It 

 does no work that it can shirk. It even follows the cows 

 in the pasture, to eat the insects that the cows drive up in 

 feeding, rather than to hunt for insects on its own ac- 

 count, as other birds do. These vagabond birds go in 

 flocks, all mixed up together^, and do not choose mates, 

 and build nests, and feed their young. The females lay 

 their eggs, one in a place, in other birds' nests, and they 

 choose nests of birds smaller than themselves, that their 

 young may have the better chance. No other bird in all 

 America will associate with them, except the English spar- 

 row, and that is a foreigner, who perhaps does not know 

 what disreputable vagabonds these cow-birds are. 



We hoped we had done the vireos a good turn when we 

 had taken the cow-bird's egg away, but it made no differ- 

 ence in the end ; for when we went a week later, to see if 



