44 I'UE COVVI'.lkl). * 



C'liwliird ill ilic lijilitcsi juvenile pli.'ise >>i plumaj^e, a wail' cuckold tar 

 I'mm any <»l' his kin, but sliit'ting fur himself with the uunchalance which 

 characterizes his wnrthlcss kind. 



If oiir lieri> iiad lived (and I make »i> a|x>lu{fy for his demise in the lirst 

 act ), he would have exchaufjed liis inconspicumis livery for tlie ricli, iri<lescen'. 

 black of the adult; and he would have done this on the installment plan, by 

 chunks and blotches, looking; the while like a raj^iicker, tricked out in cast-olT 

 finery. 



Ill the moiiili of March Cowbinls minjjle more or less with other 

 blackbirds in the migrations, but if the main flock halts for refreshments 

 and discussion cii nnilc. a grouj) of these rowdies will hunt uj) some dis- 

 rqnitable female of their own kind, and make tijisy and insulting advances 

 to her along some horizontal limb or fence rail. Taking a position alxmt 

 a foot away from the coy drab, the male will make two or three accelerating 

 hops toward her, then sto)) suddenly, allowing the impulse of motion to tilt 

 him violently forward and throw his tail up per|>endicularly, while at the 

 same moment he spews out the disgusting notes which voice his passion. 



Of the mating, Cha|)man says: "They lniil<l no nest, and the females, 

 lacking every moral instinct, leave their companions only li>ng enough to 

 dq>i)sit their eggs in the nests of other and smaller birds. I can imagine 

 no sight more strongly suggestive of a thoroly despicable nature than a 

 female Cow bird sneaking thru the trees and bushes in search of a victim 

 u|»on whom to shift the iluties of motherlKHKl." 



The egg, thus surreptitiously i>laced in another bird's nest, usually 

 hatches two or three days l)efore those of the foster mother, and the infant 

 Cowbird thus gains an advantage which he is not slow to improve. His 

 loud clamoring for f<Mxl often drives the old birds to abandon the task of 

 incubation: or if the other eggs are allowed to remain until hatched, the 

 uncouth stranger manages to usurp attention and I'imkI supi»lies, and not 

 infrequently ti> override or stifle the other occupants of the nest, so that their 

 dead bcnlies are by-and-by removed to make room for his hogshi]). It is 

 asserted by some that in the absence of the foster parents the young thug 

 forcibly ejects the rightful heirs from the nest, after the fashion of the 

 Old World CuckiKis. I once found a nest which containe<l only a lusty 

 Cowbird. while three pro|)er fledgelings dung to the shrubl>ery liclow, and 

 one lay dead U|M>n the ground. 



When the misplaced tenderness of foster parents has done its utmost 

 for the young upstart, he joins himself to some precious crew of his own 

 blo<K!, and the cycle of a changeling is complete. 



While not common anywhere west of the Rockies, the Cowbird is no 

 longer rare east of the Cascailes. and it is making its appearance at various 

 jioints on I'ugct Sound. The earlier writers make no mention of its occur- 



