Cow-birds 827 



between the eastern base of the Rocky Mountains and Labrador except the 

 lower Atlantic coast. Closely allied to these are the Crackles of the West Indies 

 and northern South America (Holoquiscalus), but differing in having the tail 

 decidedly shorter than the wing, and the Boat-tails (Megaquiscalus) of the 

 South Atlantic and Gulf States, Mexico, and Central America, in which the 

 tail is as long as, or longer than, the wing. Their habits are much like those of 

 the other Crackles described. 



Cow-birds. The maternal instinct is supposed to be one of the most strongly 

 developed of bird traits, and so, indeed, it is in most cases, the exception in the 

 New World being afforded by the Cow-birds, small semi-terrestrial birds of this 

 family, with a short, conical bill, long, pointed wings, and plain or uniform colora- 

 tion. Of the dozen or more species known, which range over temperate and 

 tropical America, all, with possibly one exception, impose the duties of rearing 

 their young upon other, usually smaller, birds. Of the American Cow-bird 

 (Molothrus ater) Chapman says: "English 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 American bird will 

 be found in his company," and he adds: "I can imagine no sight more strongly 

 suggestive of a thoroughly despicable nature than a female Cow-bird sneaking 

 through the trees or bushes in search of a victim upon whom to shift the duties 

 of motherhood." These Cow-birds go about at all seasons of the year in flocks 

 of varying size, frequenting pastures and open woodland, being often seen about 

 cattle, presumably attracted by the insects stirred up by the herd. When the 

 female feels called upon to deposit an egg, she silently leaves the flock, and, 

 skulking through hedgerow and field, finds a nest from which the owners are 

 absent and quickly laying her egg rejoins her companions, who make no ap- 

 parent comment upon either absence or return. Major Bendire gives a list of 

 over ninety species which are victimized by the Cow-bird, the birds most fre- 

 quently selected being the Phoebe, Song Sparrow, Towhee, Indigo Bunting, 

 Oven-bird, and Yellow-breasted Chat. Some birds resent their intrusion by 

 abandoning their nest or building another over it, but most of them appear to 

 submit to it as a necessary evil. But the affair does not end here, for the Cow- 

 bird's egg, being usually larger than those of the owners of the nest, receives 

 more heat from the body of the incubating bird, and hatches before the other, 

 usually in ten or eleven days, and the youngster takes up so much room and 

 receives so much more nourishment that it not infrequently happens that the 

 other young ones are crowded out or are starved to death. Bendire, quoting 

 from a Mr. White, gives an interesting account of the placing of a Cow-bird's egg 

 in a nest of a Chipping Sparrow, which already contained two of her own eggs. 

 The Cow-bird hatched a day before the first and only Sparrow, as the second 

 Sparrow's egg failed to hatch. " The daily increase in the size of the Cow-bird," 

 he says, "was something immense, while his younger companion seemed to 

 diminish rather than enlarge, until finally, at the end of three days, he died, 

 evidently for the want of food, as the Cow-bird, being larger, greedily devoured 

 everything that came in contact with his capacious mouth." At the end of three 



