1.36 XORTIT AMEPJCAX BIRDS.. 



hlidkhiirnicr, Tf. pciinfujlvcniicn ami D. tJ/.^rnlor, S^ii'rt's avrocajnlbiK, Hdoflunja 

 rntifill((, Cjinnosplza rwiufa, Confoj.'ffs I'ircns, etc. I have also known of 

 their e^gs huvinjj: been lound in the nests of Virro belli and V. pusilhis, and 

 Cyano>i}nz>i mncrna. Dr. Cooper has found their e«.!:i;' in the nest of Iderin 

 rhrus ; and ^Ir. T. H. Jackson of West Chester, Penn., in those oX Etapido- 

 nax acddicus and Pijra.'jja rubra. 



I^sually not more than i single Cowbird's egg is Ibund in the same nest, 

 thouifh it is not nnconnn )n to find two; and in a few instances three and 

 even four eggs have been niet with. In one instance ^Ir. Trippe mentions 

 having found in the nest of a Black and Wliite Creejier, besides three eggs 

 of the owner of the nest, no less than five of the parasite. ^Ir. H. S. Kod- 

 ney reports having found, in Potsdam, N. Y., ^Tay L"), 1868, a nest of Zono- 

 trichio I hrys of two stories, in one of which was buried a Cowbird's (i^^^, 

 and in the " there were two more of the same, with three eggs of the 



rightful owners. In the spring of 18G1) the same gentleman found a nest of 

 the So If amis fuse us with three Cowlard's eggs and three of her own. 



^Ir. Vickarv, of Lynn, found, in the spring of 1800, the nest of a Sciurus 

 mirocnpiUiiii, in which, with only one q^^^^ of" the rightful owner, there were 

 no less than four of the (.'owbird. All five euijfs were perfectlv fresh, and had 

 not l)een set upon. In the sunnner of the preceding year the same gentle- 

 man found a nest of the Ped-eyed Vireo containing three eggs of the Vireo 

 and four of the Cow Pdackbird. 



How the offspring from these eggs may all fare when more than one of 

 these voracious nurslings are hatched in the same nest, is an interesting 

 problem, well worthy the attention of some patiently inipiiring naturalist to 

 solve. 



The Cow Blackbird appears in Xew England with a varying degree of 

 promptness, sometimes as early as the latter part of March, and as frequently 

 not until the middle of Ai)ril. Xuttall states that none are seen in Massa- 

 chusetts after the middle of June until the following October, and Allen, 

 that they are there all the .summer. My own observations do not correspond 

 with the statement of either of these «^entlemen. Thev certainlv do become 

 quite rare in the eastern part of tlin^ State after the third week in June, but 

 that all the females are not gone is ])roved by the constant finding of freshly 

 laid eggs up to July 1. I have never been aide to find a Cow Blackbird iu 

 Eastern Massachusetts between the first of July an»l the middle of Sep- 

 tember. This I attribute to the absence of sufficient food. In the Candjridge 

 marshes they remain until all the seeds have been consumed, and only reap- 

 pear when the new crop is edil>le. 



This lilackbird is a general feeder, eating insects, apj)arently in preference, 

 and wild seed. They derive their name of Cow Blackbird from their keep- 

 ing about that animal, and finding, either from her parasitic insects or her 

 drojipings, oj)]»ortunities for food. They feed on the ground, and occasion- 

 ally scratch for insects. At the South, to a limited extent, they frequent 

 the rice-fields in company with the Ped-winged Blackbird. 



