106 A SUCCESSFUL PRETENDER 



them greatly, but they manifest no reluctance, nor 

 do they show any suspicion of the fraud that has been 

 perpetrated or the tragedy that has robbed them of 

 their natural offspring* This thankless gourmand is 

 all that is left to them after the hopes, joys, cares, 

 worries, and trials of their domestic life. The parents 

 of the impostor have evaded their natural responsi- 

 bilities and are away with a gay crowd of kindred 

 spirits enjoying themselves in the distant cow 

 pasture. There they gather on the ground and flit 

 about as if it were the season of migration, quite 

 unmindful of the parental duties they have unfeelingly 

 shifted to others. 



The little Chipping Sparrows found one day an 

 extra egg in their nest, larger than their own, 

 and with a white instead of a blue ground for 

 its even, cinnamon-brown markings. They marvelled 

 greatly at the unexpected addition to their treasures, 

 and held many serious discussions as to whether the 

 strange gift was a piece of good or bad fortune* 

 Some birds revolt against the gratuitous intrusion of 

 the Cowbird, and occasionally the gift is regarded 

 with such aversion that another floor is built in the 

 nest above it, and it is left to its fate. But the Chippies 

 accepted the foundling and warmed it into life* 

 Then the stranger began to manifest the greedy 

 aggression which seems a natural heritage from 

 parents shamelessly neglectful. The rightful heirs 



