IN THE CATSKILLS 



It is a singular freak of nature, this instinct 

 which prompts one bird to lay its eggs in the nests 

 of others, and thus shirk the responsibility of rear- 

 ing its own young. The cow buntings always resort 

 to this cunning trick; and when one reflects upon 

 their numbers, it is evident that these little trage- 

 dies are quite frequent. In Europe the parallel 

 case is that of the cuckoo, and occasionally our 

 own cuckoo imposes upon a robin or a thrush in 

 the same manner. The cow bunting seems to have 

 no conscience about the matter, and, so far as I 

 have observed, invariably selects the nest of a bird 

 smaller than itself. Its egg is usually the first to 

 hatch; its young overreaches all the rest when food 

 is brought; it grows with great rapidity, spreads 

 and fills the nest, and the starved and crowded 

 occupants soon perish, when the parent bird re- 

 moves their dead bodies, giving its whole energy 

 and care to the foster-child. 



The warblers and smaller flycatchers are gen- 

 erally the sufferers, though I sometimes see the 

 slate-colored snowbird unconsciously duped in like 

 manner; and the other day, in a tall tree in 

 the woods, I discovered the black-throated green- 

 backed warbler devoting itself to this dusky, over- 

 grown foundling. An old farmer to whom I pointed 

 out the fact was much surprised that such things 

 should happen in his woods without his knowledge. 



These birds may be seen prowling through all 

 102 



