60 WAKE-ROBIN 



days afterward and found an egg again cast out, but 

 none had been put in its place. The nest had been 

 abandoned by its owner and the eggs were stale. 



In all cases where I have found this egg, I have 

 observed both male and female of the cowbird lin- 

 gering near, the former uttering his peculiar liquid, 

 glassy note from the tops of the trees. 



In July the young, which have been reared in 

 the same neighborhood, and which are now of a dull 

 fawn color, begin to collect in small flocks, which 

 grow to be quite large in autumn. 



The speckled Canada is a very superior warbler, 

 having a lively, animated strain, reminding you of 

 certain parts of the canary's, though quite broken 

 and incomplete; the bird, the while, hopping amid 

 the branches with increased liveliness, and indulg- 

 ing in fine sibilant chirps, too happy to keep silent. 



His manners are quite marked. He has a habit 

 of courtesying when he discovers you which is very 

 pretty. In form he is an elegant bird, somewhat 

 slender, his back of a bluish lead-color becoming 

 nearly black on his crown: the under part of his 

 body, from his throat down, is of a light, delicate 

 yellow, with a belt of black dots across his breast. 

 He has a fine eye, surrounded by a light yellow ring. 



The parent birds are much disturbed by my pres- 

 ence, and keep up a loud emphatic chirping, which 

 attracts the attention of their sympathetic neighbors, 

 and one after another they come to see what has 

 happened. The chestnut-sided and the Blackbur- 

 nian come in company. The black and yellow 



