72 SUMMER 



be laid, the burden of the race has been put upon 

 the bird, but not the precious burden of the child. 

 She lays eggs; but is not a mother. 



The same is true of the European cuckoos, but 

 not quite true, in spite of popular belief, of our 

 American cuckoos. For our birds (both species) 

 build rude, elementary nests as a rule, and brood 

 their eggs. Occasionally they may use a robin's or 

 a catbird's nest, in order to save labor. So unde- 

 veloped is the mother in the cuckoo that if you 

 touch her eggs she will leave them abandon her 

 rude nest and eggs as if any excuse were excuse 

 enough for an escape from the cares of motherhood. 

 How should a bird with so little mother-love ever 

 learn to build a firm- walled, safe, and love-lined 

 nest? 



The great California condor is a most faithful 

 and anxious mother ; the dumb affection of both 

 parent birds, indeed, for their single offspring is pa- 

 thetically human. On the other hand, the mother in 

 the turkey buzzard is so evenly balanced against the 

 vulture in her that I have known a brooding bird to 

 be so upset by the sudden approach of a man as to 

 rise from off her eggs and devour them instantly, 

 greedily, and make off on her serenely soaring wings 

 into the clouds. 



Such mothers, however, are not the rule. The 

 buzzard, the cuckoo, and the cowbird are the strik- 

 ing exceptions. The flicker will keep on laying eggs 



