"From Haunts of Coot and Hern" 123 



structure and to trust to the goodness of heart of the warbler 

 to act as foster-mother. I threw a club at the cow-bird and 

 frightened it away. About ten minutes afterward I went to 

 the willow tree once more, and there was the parasite again 

 acting in the same sneaking way that it had at first. I fright- 

 ened it away once more, but rebuffs of that kind count 

 nothing with this bird. I haven't the faintest doubt that a 

 visit to the vicinity of the warbler's nest later in the season 

 would have shown two little gold-hued birds trying their best 

 to keep well filled the maw of a young cow-bird whose bulk 

 was greater than that of both foster-parents combined. The 

 yellow warbler apparently knows that the cow-bird's egg has 

 no right in its nest. At times the warbler will desert its 

 home after the depositing of the alien egg. More often, 

 however, the patient little creature will hatch out the egg 

 that has been foisted upon it and will feed and tend the young 

 cow-bird to the sacrifice of its own offspring. 



On the river bank not far from the home of the yellow 

 warbler we found the half-completed nest of a pair of red- 

 starts. We first saw the female with a bit of downy stuff in 

 her bill. She paid little heed to us and by watching her 

 movements we soon discovered her secret. The nest was a 

 dainty little structure placed about fifteen feet from the 

 ground, close to the trunk of a small tree, where it was held 

 firmly in place by two slender, upward-growing twigs. I have 

 spoken elsewhere of the abundance of the redstarts in the 

 Kankakee Valley. Both at Kouts and at English Lake I 

 found them to be by far the most abundant birds of the 

 warbler family. No one need regret their abundance, for they 

 are useful in their lives and of a surpassing beauty of plumage. 



When we had taken to our boat again and had drifted a 



