178 COW BUNTING. 



general, and which bespeaks a morose, unfeeling and unreflect- 

 ing mind. These peculiarities are often surprising, always in- 

 structive where understood, and (as in the subject of our present 

 chapter) at least amusing, and worthy of being farther investi- 

 gated. 



The most remarkable trait in the character of this species is 

 the unaccountable practice it has of dropping its eggs into the 

 nests of other birds, instead of building and hatching for itself; 

 and thus entirely abandoning its progeny to the care and mercy 

 of strangers. More than two thousand years ago it was well 

 known, in those countries where the bird inhabits, that the Cuc- 

 koo of Europe ( Cuculus canonic) never built herself a nest, but 

 dropped her eggs in the nests of other birds; but among the thou- 

 sands of different species that spread over that and other parts of 

 the globe, no other instance of the same uniform habit has been 

 found to exist, until discovered in the bird now before us. Of 

 the reality of the former there is no doubt; it is known to every 

 schoolboy in Britain; of the truth of the latter I can myself speak 

 with confidence, from personal observation, and from the testi- 

 mony of gentlemen, unknown to each other, residing in different 

 and distant parts of the United States. The circumstances by 

 which I became first acquainted with this peculiar habit of the 

 bird are as follow. 



I had, in numerous instances, found in the nests of three or 

 four particular species of birds, one egg, much larger and differ- 

 ently marked from those beside it; I had remarked that these 

 odd looking eggs were all of the same colour, and marked near- 

 ly in the same manner, in whatever nest they lay; though fre- 

 quently the eggs beside them were of a quite different tint; and 

 I had also been told, in a vague way, that the Cow-bird laid in 

 other birds' nests. At length I detected the female of this very 

 bird in the nest of the Red-eyed Flycatcher, which nest is very 

 small, and very singularly constructed; suspecting her purpose, 

 I cautiously withdrew without disturbing her; and had the sa- 

 tisfaction to find, on my return, that the egg which she had just 

 dropt corresponded as nearly as eggs of the same species usually 



