THE BIKDS OF NEW JERSEY. 209 



and the wild chorus of these black and white songsters, as they sweep 

 over our fields on their way northward, defies description. 



Apparently they originally nested farther south than they do now; 

 certainly they nested everywhere more abundantly, but the slaughter 

 to which they are subjected on their return flight in the autumn, when 

 in the somber Reedbird plumage, they are shot down by so-called 

 "Sportsmen," is rapidly thinning their ranks. 



They are adepts in concealing their nests and one may search for 

 hours, constantly attended by the male on fluttering wings, apparently 

 full of anxiety and certainly full of melody, only to find that the nest 

 is really far away in another field. 



495 Molothrus ater (Boddaert). 

 Cowbird. 



Adult male. Length, 7.75-8.25. Wing, 4.50. Entire head, neck and chest, 

 dark brown .or drab ; rest of plumage, glossy black, with greenish reflections. 



Adult female. Above, brownish-gray, with a slight iridescence on the feathers 

 of the back ; below, paler brownish-gray, with darker shaft lines on many of 

 the feathers. 



Young in first summer. Above, grayish-brown, all the feathers with buff 

 edgings ; below, dull white, tinged with buff and streaked with' dusky, except 

 on the throat. 



Builds no nest, but deposits its eggs in the nests of other birds ; eggs, white, 

 thickly and minutely speckled with brown, .85 x .64. 



Common summer resident, occasional in winter Cape May (Stone 1 

 and Hand), Yardville (Allinson), Plainfield (Miller). 2 Arrives 

 March 15th (March 2oth), bulk departs in October. Some linger till 

 December 1st, at Princeton (Babson). 3 



Small bunches of these birds reach us early in the spring, and the 

 males may be seen perched in some tree on the edge of the swamp 

 spreading their wings and tail, and literally forcing out the guttural 

 creaking sounds that pass with them for a song. Later we see the 

 females skulking about searching for the nests of the Warblers, Spar- 

 rows and Vireos, in which they usually deposit their eggs. And later 

 still, in small flocks, they may be seen following the cattle in the field. 



1 Auk, 1892, p. 204. 



2 Osprey, II., p. 91. 



3 Birds of Princeton, p. 59. 



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