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COWBIRD, 137 
Occasionally Cowbirds are seen during the winter 
near New York city; but, as a rule, they retire farther 
south at this seuson, and are first ob- 
Molothrus ater, served there in the spring about March 
Piste 2 20. They do not come in large flocks, 
but singly or in sinall bands. The male may now be 
seen perched in an exposed position on a treetop, calling 
_his long-drawn-out, glassy Aluck, tsé-é-2. Later, when 
wooing the female, he utters a curious, gurgling note, 
resembling the sound made by pouring water rapidly 
from a bottle, and accompanying it by motions which 
suggest extreme nausea. We often see these birds feed- 
ing near cattle in the pastures, always in small flocks, for 
they do not pair nor even construct a nest, the female lay- 
ing her egg in the nest of another and generally smaller 
species. Few birds seem aware of the imposture, and 
not only do they incubate the egg but, they may attend 
to the demands of the young Cowbird at the expense of 
their own offspring, who sometimes die of starvation. 
Even after leaving the nest the young parasite continues 
its call for food, and when seeing a Maryland Yellow- 
throat, or some other small bird feeding a clumsy fledg- 
ling twice its size, one wonders it does not detect the de- 
ception. The better we know birds the more strongly 
are we impressed with their individuality. To one who 
has no friends in feathers it seems pure fancy to endow 
some insignificant “ Chippy” with human attributes; but 
in reality there are as clearly defined characters among 
birds as among men. To be convinced of the truth of 
this statement we have only to compare the Cowbird, a 
thoroughly contemptible creature, lacking in every moral 
and maternal instinct, with the bird who constructs a well- 
made nest, faithfully broods her eggs, and cares for her 
young with a devotion of which mother love alone is 
capable. 
