824 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



on the upper Mississippi River and its numerous tributaries. They 

 occur only as stragglers on the Pacific coast west of the Cascade and 

 Sierra Nevada Mountains. The most northern point at which they 

 have been known to breed is the neighborhood of Little Slave Lake 

 in southern Athabasca. In the autumn the majority of these birds 

 migrate to southern Mexico, although a considerable number re- 

 main in our Southern States, and a few occasionally tarry for the 

 winter even as far north as New England and southern Michigan. 



The male cowbird looks like a well-dressed gentleman and may 

 have even a slightly clerical air in his closely fitting suit of glossy 

 black, with its greenish and purplish iridescence, and his cloak of 

 rich metallic brown covering his head, neck, and chest. He makes 

 a poor shift as a musician, but his failure is not due to lack of effort, 

 for during courtship days he does his level best to sing a variety of 

 tunes, expanding and distorting his throat, fluffing up his feathers, 

 spreading out his wings and tail, his purpose evidently being to make 

 himself as fascinating as possible in the eyes of his lady love. One 

 of his calls sounds like the word " spreele," piped in so piercing a 

 key that it seems almost to perforate your brain. 



One observer maintains that the cowbirds are not only para- 

 sitical in their habits, but are also absolutely devoid of conjugal 

 affection, practicing polyandry, and seldom even mating. This is 

 a serious charge, but it is doubtless true, for even during the season 

 of courtship and breeding these birds live in flocks of six to twelve, 

 the males almost always outnumbering the females. However, if 

 their sexual relations are somewhat irregular, no one can accuse 

 them of engaging in family brawls, as so many other birds do, for 

 both males and females seem to be on the most cordial terms with 

 one another, and are, to all appearances, entirely free from jealousy. 

 Who has ever seen two cowbirds fighting a duel like the orioles, 

 meadow larks, and robins? Their domestic relations seem to be 

 readily adjusted, perhaps all the more so on account of their lax 

 standards of sexual virtue. 



In obtruding her eggs into the nests of other birds Madame Cow- 

 bird is sly and stealthy. She does not drive the rightful owners 

 from their nests, but simply watches her opportunity to drop her 

 eggs into them when they are unguarded. No doubt she has been 

 on the alert while her industrious neighbors have been construct- 

 ing their domiciles, and knows where every nest in the vicinity is 

 hidden. Says Major Charles Bendire: "In rare instances only 

 will a fresh cowbird's egg be found among incubated ones of the 

 rightful owners. I have observed this only on a single occasion." 

 From one to seven eggs of the parasite are found in the nests of 

 the dupes. In most cases the number is two, but in the case of 



