150 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



its food; iris of the eye dark hazel; head, neck and breast, 

 coffee brown; rest of . its plumage glossy black with metalic 

 bluish and greenish reflections ; tail slightly forked ; legs and 

 claws glossy black, and are strong and muscular. The adult 

 female is dull grayish brown above, a shade lighter below, and 

 streaked with paler shades of brown. 



The cowbird is a bird of North America whose range ex- 

 tends from Southern Mexico north through the United States 

 and the southern parts of the Dominion of Canada, in the east- 

 ern portio'ns to about latitude north 49 degrees ; in the interior 

 to Little Slave Lake, southern Athabasca ; and west to British 

 Columbia, eastern Washington, Oregon and southeastern Cal- 

 ifornia. It winters from southern Indiana and Illinois 

 throughout its southern range. It breeds from Georgia, 

 Louisiana and Texas, northward throughout its northern 

 range. 



The males come north in advance of the females. They 

 are polygamous birds and thoroughly promiscous in their 

 polygamous habits. It is true that the male seemingly makes 

 a show of courting, but this is rather a show of fine feathers 

 than a desire to win the attention of a particular female; and 

 apparently the female is perfectly indifferent as to which male 

 she surrenders herself, and if need be, to any number of them. 

 So, in fact, it is not an instance of true polygamy but rather 

 of polyandry that is, a wife having many husbands, or in 

 other words a case of free love. This of itself makes it a most 

 despicable bird ; so despicable, that so far as I know, no man 

 or woman has yet been inspired to write even a stanza in 

 commendation of it. 



But- this is not the worst that is to be said of this bird. 

 No illustration of the nest can accompany this chapter, for it 

 is a nestless bird. Not only is this true, for it is a parasite and 

 by its stealth compels other birds to rear its young. In doing 

 this mischief it has not the courage of the English sparrow 

 who fights for what it wants, but is a sneaking coward that 

 secretly seeks an advantage to deposit its eggs in, the nest of 

 another bird. In this respect it is like the cuckoo of Europe 

 but unlike any other bird in America. When the female is 

 ready to deposit her egg, she leaves her associates and begins 



