RTEIUD.K — TilK OHIOLES. 1.').') 



of c'liaracteivs I'or twci I'aci'.s. Tlic i-xticiiics of si/o in this siuuii's uiv as 

 lollows : — 



/,(//•(/(■«/. (11,'JV], (J, I'diM I!ri(li.''<'r.) WiiiL', l.'KI; tail. .'!,.'l.'i ; ciilmcii. .72 ; Mrsiis, l.d,'!. 

 .s'hi((//c.< (I7.'J!)7, t?. Mini Klc.rcs, 1.. C.i ■• :!>'•: " -■''<'>; -"i"; " -^^1. 



IIahits. TIic cDiiuiinii Cow I'.lai'kliinl lias a nciv cxlt'iidi'd ilistiiluitiiMi 

 from 1\h'. Atlantic to Calil'oniia, ami iVom Texas to Canada, and iaol)alily to 

 rL'j,Mons still t'artlicr north. TIk'V liavc not liccn traced to tiic I'acilic roa.sl, 

 tliouL!;]! almndanl on tliat of tlus Atlantic. Dr. Coojicr tliiid<s that a lew 

 winter in the, Colorado N'alley, and pmlialily also in tlu^ San .loa(|uin N'allov. 



'J'liis sjiecies is at all times ,uri';4arioii^ and |iolynamous, never mating, and 

 never exliihitinji' any sij^ns of eitlu'r conjugal or ]iarental affections. Like 

 the Cnckoo.s of luirope, our Cow IMackhird ne\fr constructs a nest of her 

 own, and never hatches onl or attemiits to rear her own olfsprin^u', ''Ut im- 

 ])o.ses her ej^gs ii|)on other birds ; and most of these, either uncjonscioiis of the 

 im])osition or unable to rid theniscdves of the alien, sit upon and iiatch tln' 

 stranger, and in so (U)ing virtually destroy their own oll's]iring, — for the 

 egg.s of the Cowbird are the first hatched, u.sually two day.s before the others. 

 The nursling is nnich larger in size, filling uj) a large ])orlion of the nest, 

 and is insatiable in its aj)]ietiti', always clamoring to be fed, and leceiving 

 by far the hirger share of the food bnaight to the nest ; its foster-companions, 

 either starved or stilled, .soon die, and their dead l)odies are removed, it is 

 supjiosed, by their ]iarents. They are ne\er found near tiie nest, as they 

 would lie if the young Cow lUackliird ex]ielled them as does tiu' Cuckoo; 

 indeed, Mr. Nuttall has seen parent liirds removing the dead young to a 

 distance from the nest, and there drojiping them. 



For the most part the Cowbird dejiosits her egg in the nest of a liird much 

 smaller than herself, but this is not always the case. I have known of tiieir 

 eggs having been found in the nests of '/'nn/iis iiii's/c/linis nud 7\ J'n.fcfsrfns, 

 SturniUti iiiiii/iKi and »S'. inf/lrrfK. In each instance they luul been incubated. 

 Ilow the young Cowbird generally fares when hatcheil in the nests of birds 

 of e(|ual or larger size, and the fate of the foster-niusiings, is an interesting 

 subje('t for investigation. ^Ir. J. A. Allen saw, in Western Iowa, a female 

 llarporlniiivlnix riifiix feeding a in'arly full grown Cowliird, — a Ncry inter- 

 esting fact, and the only e\ideiiee we now have that these liiiils are reared 

 by birds of siijierior size. 



It lays also in tiie ni'sts of tht! common Catliird, lait tlu> egg lu'ver remains 

 there long after tiie owner of the nest becomes aware of the intrusion. The 

 list of the birds in who.se nests the Cow Blackbird deposits her egg and it is 

 reared is \-ery laige. 'i'he most common nurses of tlu^se foundlings in New 

 I'aiglaial are S/ii-.c/ht norialis, Juj'/iidtiii'i /■ niininnis, (Inilltliipi^; triclmx, and all 

 our eastern I'l'iros, namely, n/irdrciis, K(ili/>iriiis, iiiiirbnrinu tixis, (fi/ri's, and 

 Jhivifniiin. i'x'sides these, I have found their eggs in the nests of I'oliojitila 

 (■U'ruhd, MiiiuliUa ctiriii, UihiUHlliofliiKjd rnjiiiijill/n, IhnilroiiHt riiriix, JJ. 



