PICARLE. 315 



The humming birds are likely to nest together in 

 some tree or bush which is in blossom; woodpeckers are 

 rather more likely to nest solitarily ; and once in a while 

 one specially quarrelsome pair will dispossess another 

 weaker pair of woodpeckers and appropriate their nest. 

 The cuckoos of the New World, while closely related to 

 the cuckoo of Europe, have not the reputation for laying 

 their eggs in the nests of other birds, which is the usual 

 habit of the European bird, and only a very exceptional 

 thing with our cuckoos. This lazy habit of the European 

 cuckoo seems to have been bequeathed rather to our cow- 

 birds, near relatives of our blackbirds. Farther south, 

 along the Rio Grande river, are found the Savannah 

 blackbirds or Anis, and in Mexico, the groove-billed ani; 

 these birds look like a very slender blackbird, but their 

 bills are much stouter. The groove-bill has the black- 

 bird-like habit of associating in flocks, and feeding on 

 cattle ticks, which they pick off the cattle while the cattle 

 are grazing. The Savannah blackbirds are communistic 

 in their nesting habits; several birds uniting to make one 

 nest in which the several females lay their eggs. 



