300 



NEW ENGLAND FARMER. 



July 



purpose of annoying the farmer. That it destroys 

 an astonishing quantity of corn, rice and other 

 kinds of grain, cannot be denied ; bat that before 

 it commences its ravages, it has proved highly ser- 

 viceable to the crops, is equally certain. The mil- 

 lion of insects which the Red wings destroy at 

 this early season, are, in my opinion, a full equiv- 

 alent for the corn which they eat at another pe- 

 riod. 



Mr. Nuttall, our own New England ornitholo- 

 gist, fully endorses the opinions of Wilson, in re- 

 gard to tlie utility of the Red-wings in destroying 

 insects, and adds, Kalm remarked, that after a 

 great destruction made among these, and the Crow 

 Blackbirds, for the legal reward of three pence a 

 dozen, the Northern States, in 1749, exp3rienced 

 a complete loss of the grass and grain crops, 

 which were now devoured by insects. In a for- 

 mer communication upon the value of the Indian 

 corn, we alluded to a tradition among the Indians, 

 that the Red-winged Blackbird first brought the 

 maize or corn into New England from Mexico. — 

 This belief induced them to spare the lives of these 

 birds, although they undoubtedly caused them 

 much trouble in their little corn fields. Now we 

 are not disposed at this late period, and with no- 

 thing but the shadawy evidence cf an Indian tra- 

 dition, to attempt to establish the claims of the 

 Red-wing, in introducing that most valuable plant, 

 the Indian corn, and perhaps thereby obtain a 

 silver whistle, from the Massachusetts Horticultu- 

 ral Society, lest a rival from some unexpected quar- 

 ter should arise, and contest the prize with our 

 bird. And judging from the blackbird's love of 

 Indian corn, and their boldness at all times, and in 

 all places, in appropriating it to their own use, we 

 should suppose the birds themselves believed the 

 tradition, and that they were but honestly takinw 

 what in part belonged to them. Finally, in view 

 of all that has been said in favor of the Red-wing, 

 we may justly claim for them exemption ti-om the 

 cruel assaults of idle gunners, truant schoolboys, 

 and from the necessity of witnessing the vain at- 

 tempts of honest farmers to frighten them with 

 scare crows. 



We are now about to notice the most singular 

 bird, we mean so f;ir as its habits are concerned, 

 to be found in the Union. It is the Cow Black- 

 bird, and is but little known, except to ornitholo- 

 gists. Boys, son^etimes, in their excursions after 

 birds' egg, when peeping into the hanging nest of 

 the Red-eyed Fly-Catcher, notice one egg, differ- 

 ently marked, and larger than the rest, but are 

 not aware that it belongs to the bird under con- 

 sideration. Like the European Cuckoo, they 

 never pair like other birds, but males and females 

 flock together, and roam over the country, living 

 in a state of concubinage and vagrancy, like a band 

 of Gipsies. Their young are never cared for by their 

 parents, but are bred as foundlings, they being the 

 only bird found in this country that do not build 

 a nest, and feed their young. As we have before 

 remarked, the Cow-birds are banded together in 

 small parties, both mule and female, during the 

 summer months, and in the breeding season, and, 

 when the female is prompted by nature to lay 

 her egg, she leaves her companions in the flock, 

 and searches for the nest of some small bird, in 

 which to make her deposits. If she chances to 

 find the neat basket nest of the Red-eyed Fly- 

 catcher, and the owner of it not at home, she sly- 



ly and in great haste, drops in the nest her solita- 

 ry egg, and quickly leaves the premises, and again 

 joins the flock, usually uttering some notes expres- 

 sive of her success, in thus relieving herself of her 

 care. The honest mother and owner of the nest, 

 upon her return, as we may well suppose, feels 

 indignant at the shameful conduct of the Cow-bird, 

 but if she had eggs of her own, in the nest before 

 the deposit of the strange egg is made, the attach- 

 ment to home is sufiiciently strong to prevent her 

 abandoning her nest. Some birds, who have had 

 their homes visited by the Cow-bird, build a false 

 bottom to their nest, and thus covering the egg 

 of the parasite, prevents its incubation. Upon 

 this additional flooring in the nest, the parent bird 

 commences anew to lay her eggs. Bat usually the 

 Red-eye, after the egg of the Cow-bird is deposited, 

 commences sitting, and in due time the parasite 

 egg is hatched, always before the eggs of the pa- 

 rent bird. The young of the Red-eyed Flj-oatch- 

 er, or Vireo, usually does not appear until the 13th 

 day from the time incubation commences, whereas, 

 the young of the Cow-bird usually appears on 

 the twelfth day. Should the Red-eye continue on 

 the nest until all the eggs are hatched, the young 

 Cow-bird being a much larger bird, and receiving 

 the most attention from the duped nurse, grows 

 apace, until he nearly fills the small and crowded 

 nest, fairly covering up, putting out of sight, and 

 at last stilling the young of the legitimate bird, 

 which when dead, are carried from the nest by the 

 foster parent, leaving the black stranger alone in 

 the nest, to enjoy all her affectionate attention. — 

 It frequently happens that the Red-eyed Vireo, 

 upon the hatching of the egg of the Cow-bird, 

 which we have before said takes place befure that 

 of the vireo, immediately leaves the nest, to sup- 

 ply the foundling with food, and by so doing leaves 

 her own eggs to perish, for the want of a little 

 more incubation. The unhatched eggs are soan 

 ejected by the parent bird, from the nest, as is 

 supposed, who continues to feed the sooty stran- 

 ger until he leaves the nest, and for some time af- 

 ter. Some thirty years since, we took an egg of 

 the Cow-bird from the nest of the Red-eyed Vireo, 

 and placed it in the nest of a barn swallow, for 

 the purpose of more conveniently watching its in- 

 cubation. At the time of the deposit there were 

 three eggs in the nest of the swallow, when she 

 laid one more egg and commenced sitting. In 

 about twelve or thirteen days, I noticed that the 

 parasite's egg was hatched, but the swallow's 

 eggs were not. Soon after the hatching of the 

 Cow-bird, the swallow came off her nest, and ne- 

 glected her incubation, to supply the young found- 

 ling with food. The then remaining unhatched 

 eggs of the swallow, after a few days, were eject- 

 ed as I then supposed by the parent bird, and were 

 f )und under the nest. The foundling had now the 

 whole nest to himself, and being constantly fed, 

 by both the male and female swallows, became 

 exceedingly large and fat, completely filling the 

 nest, and still clamorous for food. The swallows 

 continued to feed the young bird for several days 

 after it left the nest, and one day, I believe, upon 

 the top of the barn, where it attracted considera- 

 ble attenti(m from persons passing by. 



The egg of the Cow-bird is oval, and small, we 

 should think, for the size of the bird, and thickly 

 marked with small spots of olive brown, on a 

 white ground, tinged with green. The eggsjof the 



