CHAPTER VI 



THE FIFTEEN NEXT COMMON SUMMER RESIDENTS 

 1 6. COWBIRD 



Haunts: Fields, preferably cow-pastures and 

 lawns. 



Description: Male: black with a dark brown 

 head. Female: gray; lighter below, 



Size and Shape: Length 7.9 inches. 



Call : A two-syllabled squeaking ' ' swee-zee ' ' ; 

 very highly pitched. 



Seasonal Abundance : Arrives early. 



Remarks: This bird follows the European 

 Cuckoo in its well-known habit of inflicting its 

 nesting burdens on other species. Not only do 

 the Warblers and Sparrows, etc., have to rear 

 the young Cowbird, whose egg the female laid 

 in their nest, but the Cowbird often secures so 

 much of the food that the true young starve. 



17. BROWN THRASHER 



Haunts : Thickets, often along roadsides. 



Description: Above, bright reddish-brown; 

 two white wing-bars. Below, white with heavy 

 black streaks. 



Size and Shape: Length n inches. Slen- 

 der. Tail long. Bill long and slender. 

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