76 THE COW-BUNTING. 



and insidious attacks, as Wilson says, are more to be 

 dreaded by tlie husbandman than the combined forces of 

 the whole feathered tribe together. 



Its song is brief but sweet, and the notes most clearly 

 recognizable seem to be expressed by the syllables conh- 

 quer-ree. It builds its nest of rushes and coarse grass in 

 the depth of an alder-clump, or in a tuft of thick herbage. 



To the same family belongs the Cow-bunting, or Cow- 

 pen Bird, which is remarkable for depositing its eggs in 

 the nest of some other bird, af fcer the intrusive fashion of 

 the cuckoo. Its singular name alludes to its habit of fre- 

 quenting the enclosures in which the cattle are confined, 

 where, amongst the ordure, it seeks for seeds, worms, and 

 insects. 



As we have said, it builds no nest, and the female drops 

 her eggs singly in the nests of several species of small 

 birds ; and it is to be noted that these foster-parents take 

 affectionate care of the nurslings thus imposed upon them. 

 The young cow-bird, like the young cuckoo, is always 

 found alone in the nest of which jDossession is so uncere- 

 moniously taken — probably, it rids itself of the legitimate 

 tenants in the same way that the cuckoo does. At all 

 events, it is found that when the parasitical egg is deposited 

 in the nest before the eggs of its owner, the latter then 

 takes flight, and the purpose of the cow-bird is thus de- 

 feated. Wilson placed a fledgeling of this species in the 

 same cage with a cardinal grosbeak, which, as soon as its 

 little companion became clamorous for food, made all pos- 

 sible exertions to satisfy its appetite. When he found 



