I5I..M M'.IUHS. OKKM-K.s, I 



A***, none, the eggs bvin^ lui.l in the neu of other itpecic*. Egg*, white, 

 evenly and distinctly speckled with cinnamon- brown or umber, -W x &. 



The Cowbird is an acknowledged villain, and baa no standing in 

 the birtl world. Kn^li-h Sparrows, either because they are not aware 

 of the customs of New -World bird life, or because of a possible and 

 not unlikely affinity, associate with him ; but no self- respecting Ameri- 

 can bird will bo found in his company. 



As an outcast he makes the best of things, and gathers about him 



a band of kindred .-pints who know no law. There is an air about the 



group which at once tells the critical observer that tlu-ir deeds are 



evil. No joyous song swells the throat of the male. His chief con- 



tribution to the chorus of springtime is a guttural bubbling produced 



with apparently nauseous effort. In small flocks they visit both 



pasture and woodland, and are given to following cattle, clustering 



about the feet of the herd, presumably to feed on the insects found 



there. They build no nest, and the females, lacking every moral and 



nmtiTiial instinct, leave their companions only long enough to deposit 



their eggs in the nests of other and smaller birds. I can imagine no 



.-lirht more strongly suggestive of a thoroughly despicable nature than 



female Cowbird sneaking through the trees or bushes in search of a 



tim upon whom to shift the duties of motherhood. 



The ill-gotten offspring are born with the Cowbird character fully 



eloped. They demand by far the greater share of the food, and 



'tiu'h gluttony or mere size alone starve or crowd out the rightful 



occupants of the nest. They accept the attention of their foster-par- 



ents long after they could care for themselves; and when nothing 



more is to be gained desert them and join the growing flocks of their 



kind in the grainficMs. 



497. Xanthocephalus xanthocephalua (ltnap.). YELLOW- 

 IIEADED BLACKBIKD. Ad. 6 . Head, neck, throat, aiul breast orange-yellow ; 

 region before the eye ami chin black; outer wiinr ->-"Vi rts white, rest of the 

 plumage black. Ad. 9 .Forehead, lino overthe eye, i.l.-> <.i'tlie head, throat, 

 3ixl upi-T breast pale, dirty yellow, more or leas rnivl with white; lower 

 breast generally more or ICM marked with white ; rest of the plumage grayish 

 brown. L., 10-00 ; W., 5-50 ; T., 4-05 ; B., -88. 



JRa*7. Western North America, north to Manitoba, cast to Illinois; win- 

 tent from the Southern States southward; accidental in Massachusetts, Dw- 

 -.ri.-t f Columbia, South Carolina, and Florida. 



Washington. A. V., one in.-tance, Aug. Cambridge, A. V.," one record, Oct. 

 . bulky, of coane reed*, grannc*, etc., in manhctt. /.;/:/, four to five, 

 grayiah white, evenly and rather obscurely >|..-.-kled with j-ale cinnamon- 

 brown, 1-00 x -7*. 



- These birds are largely terrestrial in their habits, and during the 

 fall and winter months are generally distributed over the prairie? and 



