tion knew no bounds; he was furious. 

 He might have been jealous that 

 Peepsy went abroad while he stayed at 

 home; anyway, he pounced upon his 

 brother in angry passion, caught his 

 foot and jerked him off the perch, 

 pulled out his feathers ami tumbled 

 him over upon the floor, when I inter 

 fered promptly, 



As it was past thru bedtime 1 saw 

 them salelv asleep, both little heads 



laid snugly against their wings, and 



thought by morning the ipiarrel would 

 be loigotten When 1 saw them next 

 pool I'ittle 1'eepsy lay dead upon the 



cage floor, I strongly suspect that 

 Robert rose early to help him out of 

 the world; at least there was no appear* 



anee of suieide! 



The remaining twin sang freely tor -i 

 few hours; he had vanquished an im- 

 agm.uyfoe and was singing the song 

 ol him who ovoiromoth. 



A I tor that ho seemed preyed upon 

 by lemtMse. nor was ho ever lumsell 

 again, refusing food and pining away 

 gradually through the few remaining 

 weeks of his short life) when, in spite 

 of all his faults, ho died, as the story- 

 hooks say, mueli loved and lamented. 



THE COWBIRD. 



(Mohthnm a (<>.) 

 . C. M, 



UFFALp-BIRL)" was formerly 



one ot the names applied to 



this bird of strange habits, and 

 Major Hcndiro, who was long 

 an observer of all that took place on 

 the plains, states that, one will rarely 

 see a bunch of cattle without an at 

 tending flock of cowbirds, who perch 

 on their backs searching for parasites, 

 or sit with "lazy ease, "their familiarity 

 with the cattle suggesting their name 

 of cowbird. They also follow the 

 freshly plowed furrows and pick up 

 worms and larva:. Mr. \\ M. Silloway, 

 who has made a very extended and 

 careful study of the cowbird, says that 

 its strange behavior and stealthy move 

 ments at certain seasons have- pre 

 vented the acquisition of full data con 

 cerning many features of its life, and 

 a few unfounded speculations about 

 its habits have become current. It oc 

 cupies a parallel place with the Euro 

 pean cuckoo. It never builds a nest, 

 but deposits its eggs in the homes of 

 other birds, usually those of the 

 smaller species. It is, therefore, a 

 homeless creature, and its young are 

 all orphans or adopted children. "It 



is, indeed, a peculiar bird, having no 

 attractiveness of color, no beauty of 



voieo, and no homo. No wonder that, 



when in the haunts of other species, it 

 hides and skulks as it seeks a suitable 

 and convenient habitation to house its 



unborn orphan." Major Heiuliie gives 

 a list of ninety-one birds in whose 

 nests she has been known to leave her 

 eggs. This includes woodpeckers, 



llyeateheis, orioles, thrushes, spai rows, 



vireos, wrens, and warblers, but the 

 most frequently imposed upon are 

 so small that the cowbird 's big nest 

 ling is almost certain to be the one 



to survive, the smaller birds beim; 



crowded out, and left to perish. It is 

 said that as many as seven cowbird 

 eggs have been found in a single nest, 



hut there is generally only one. It is 

 believed that a brood oi inseetivorous 

 and usetul birds is almost mvatiablv 



sacrificed for every cowbird raised. 

 Mr. Ridgway, in his fasematmg- book 

 on the birds of Illinois, gives the fol 

 lowing vivid picture of the female 

 searching for a nest in which to de 

 posit her egg: "She hunts stealthily 

 through the woods, usually among the 



