AMERICAN ORNITHOLOGY. 



167 



A HOUSE WITH TWO STORIES. 



Last May a little Maryland Yellow-throat built her nest in a rasp- 

 Taerry patch by the roadside. It was made of bits of bark, tendrils and 

 grass, and lined with finer grasses and horsehair. Just as it was com- 

 pleted and the little birds ofiE for a nice breakfast, Mrs. Cowbird, who 

 has a bad reputation, gained by her lazy habit of building no home for her 

 offspring, but slying depositing her eggs in the nests of smaller birds, 

 came stealthily through the bushes from the top of a tall tree from 

 which she had been watching the construction of the little nest with a 

 great deal of interest. After a hasty inspection she decided that it was 

 a safe home for her future offspring. The ^^^ was left and Mrs. Cow- 

 b)ird hastened away as slyly as she had come. On her return the 

 Maryland Yellow-throat was much disturbed to find the large q^^ in 

 lier little home, but she was wiser than many of her small neighbors 

 for most of them do not seem to mind the intrusive ^^^ but go right 

 •on about their housekeeping, and of course, the young Cowbird, being 

 so much larger than the rightful occupants soon crowds them out of 

 their home and keeps the poor tired little mother on the move to 

 supply it with food. So for every cowbird a whole nestful of insect 

 eating birds are sacrificed. But of course nature planned the Cowbird 

 for some purpose and we are learning that its food consists of injurious 

 spiders and insects, and seeds of obnoxious weeds. These little Yel- 

 low-throats after much scolding decided to outwit the Cowbird, so very 

 soon they were very busy building a platform over the large Q^z, and 

 in a short time had a very imposing two story mansion. They worked 

 very steadily indeed, until it was finished, and then flew off for a short 

 outing before beginning the real cares of housekeeping. No sooner 

 were they gone than back came Mrs. Cowbird and laid another o.^^ in 

 the top story. When the owners returned and found that all their labor 

 bad been fruitless they were furious and left the nest never to return. 

 I do not know where they made their next home, but trust that they 

 may have reared their family in peace. rest h. metcalf. 



