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The Cow-pen Bird, like the European Cuckoo, destitute of all 

 those attachments for which the rest of the feathered race are so 

 remarkable, never builds a nest, or sits upon its eggs, which are 

 promiscuously dropped in the nests of other species — thus leaving 

 the perpetuity of their race to chance, and imposing upon those of 

 neither kith nor kin, the arduous task of incubation. 



Wilson states that the eggs of these birds are hatched in two 

 days less than those in whose nests they are deposited. Thus we 

 see that Nature provides for the continuance of the race. Were it 

 two days later, instead of two days earlier, this species would be- 

 come extinct. As soon as the young foundling appears, the fe- 

 male leaves the nest to provide for its support, and bestows upon it 

 every attention ; until no longer requiring this motherly care, it 

 quits the place of its birth, and joins the roving band of polyga- 

 mists. By many, this extraordinary trait of character is attributed 

 to a wanton recklessness in regard to their progeny. Although — 

 as writers have stated — there is nothing to be observed in the for- 

 mation of this bird, to render it incapable of incubation ; yet we 

 must believe it to be the effect of some secret cause, which has 

 thus far escaped the observation of the most profound naturalists. 



The Cow Bird, so called from its habits of frequenting the pas- 

 ture fields, and following the cattle, for the purpose of procuring 

 insects which they disturb, arrives among us from the South, 

 where it passes the winter, in the early part of April. When mi- 

 grating northward, many pass on to the Fur countries, and return 

 in the latter part of September, then collecting in large flocks — 

 and at this period, in company with the Red- winged Starlings, pay 

 pccasional visits to the corn-fields. 



