152 Birds of Buzzard's Roost 



by their stronger foster brother, or they are starved, and he 

 then absorbs the entire attention of the parents. Only in cases 

 where the true offspring is as large or larger than the imposter 

 is there any likelihood of exception to the rule. It can readily 

 be seen what an immense amount of harm a cowbird causes in 

 the economy of nature, granting that only a single one of its 

 eggs is hatched in a season. A brood of insectivorous and 

 useful birds is almost invariably sacrificed for every cowbird 

 raised, and they are certainly not diminishing in numbers." 



Some of the birds that are imposed upon by the cowbird, 

 recognizing the fact, abandon their nests and build others ; 

 others add additional stories to the nest and thus cover up 

 their own and the eggs of the cowbird. Mr. William Hamil- 

 ton Gibson years ago, in one of the magazines, beautifully il- 

 lustrated how this had been done by a yellow warbler, and in 

 his account of it said, after having taken off one story, "Have 

 we fully examined this nest? Even now the lower section 

 seems more bulky than the normal nest should be. Can we 

 not trace still another faint outline of a transverse division in 

 the fabric about an inch below the one already separated? 

 Yes; it parts easily with a little disentangling of the fibres, 

 and another spotted egg is seen within. A three storied nest ! 

 A nest full of stories certainly. I recently read of a speci- 

 men containing five stories, upon the top of which downy pile 

 the little warbler sat like patience on a monument, presumably 

 smiling at the discomfiture of the outwitted cowbird para- 

 site, who had exhausted her powers of mischief for the season, 

 and doubtless convinced herself of the folly of 'putting all of 

 her eggs in one basket.' ' 



The cowbird is essentially a bird of the open fields but 

 often is found in the vicinity of a stream or swamp. At Buz- 

 zard's Roost I have most frequently found them next to Fall 

 Creek. They eat insects, grasshoppers, beetles, etc., in the 

 summer, and take seeds of weeds and occasionally small grain 

 to some extent, at other seasons. No doubt the cowbird does 

 much good, and there may be some wise purpose for its ex- 

 istence, but if there is I have not discovered it, nor do I know 

 of any one who has. It has no song. There is nothing in its 

 life to make it joyous. Why should they sing? 



