30^ 



SCIENCE. 



[Vol. XXII. No. 565 



and the female of tliat diminutive species in the act of 

 feeding it. The tiny excavation could scarcely afford 

 room for its feet, to say nothing of the body, and, with 

 feathers fluffed so as to apparently double its size, the 

 mouth extended to its utmost, while the midget foster- 

 mother, at the hazard of being swallowed bodily, plunging 

 her morsels far down the abysmal throat of the ungracious 

 usurper, who has unavoidably destroyed the mother's own 

 birdlings in the process of its development." (Birds of 

 Minnesota, p. 274). 



The other case observed was somewhat later in the 

 month. In both cases there was but a single specimen of 

 the parasite, as is usually the case, and not one of the 

 bird's own offspring was to be found, which, I think, is 

 also the usual thing. 



In the case most critically studied the bird had left the 

 nest and was diligently following the foster-parents, both 

 of whom were in attendance upon it, now to the ground, 

 now to a tree, and all the while persistently clamoring for 

 food, which they were industriously seeking to supply. 

 And it seemed to me there was in the eye of the usurper 

 a look of impious maliciousness, which seemed to express 

 a semi-consciousness of wild satisfaction in the scandalous 

 imposition. 



The observations were the more interesting to me in 

 that from my earliest recollections of bird-habit and 

 instinct the "chippy" was among the most wary and 

 jealous of the slightest intrusion or interference about 

 the nest. I have known the disturbance of even the 

 foliage in proximity to be sufficient to result in its 

 abandonment. A note in American Ornithology, p. 296, 

 speaks of it in the same way, and refers to it as the most 

 punctilious on this point, often deserting the nest even 

 after the eggs had been dej)osited. I have myself known 

 the nest to be deserted upon an apparently smaller prov- 

 ocation after the full comi^lement of eggs had been laid. 

 It has, therefore, seemed strange to me that an egg so dif- 

 ferent in size and markings should be accepted and 

 brooded, or that after the full-grown intruder had flown 

 it should yet be so tenderly cared for, though its vaga- 

 bond nature must certainly be recognized ! Is it jjrobable 



that the maternal instincts are so strong as to overcome 

 all scruples even of the tragic sort involved in the case 

 under consideration? 



If Spizelia is the frequent victim of this parasitism I 

 should be glad to know more about it. Of all the cases 

 where I have found the eggs of the cow-bird in the nests 

 of other birds, I have yet to find the first case of such in 

 the nest of the "chippy." My observations may have been 

 too limited, and I shall hereafter be on the lookout for 

 making them more critical, and, at the same time, more 

 extensive. 



LETTEES TO THE EDITOR. 



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An Intelligent Squirrel. 



The new home to which I removed this summer has 

 about it two-thirds of an acre of ground bearing several 

 old oaks, maples and other trees. Naturally enough, it 

 has introduced me to a number of new acquaintances in 

 furs and feathers. Of these the most interesting by far 

 is a gray squirrel (^Sciurus Cai'olinensis) , the largest 

 specimen I remember to have met. He made his first 

 bow to us early in Septamber, taking his position one 

 morning upon a red oak some twenty feet from the 

 house, with his four feet spread widely on the main 

 trunk, his head downward and his beautiful great brush 

 poised above his gray back. Here he remained motion- 

 less for a time, peering into a second story window 

 where two little children were busy at play. Directly 

 one of the children — a five-year-old — caught sight of 

 the curious eavesdropper, and made the usual hullabaloo 

 over him, vigorously assisted by her younger brother. 

 The squirrel paid little attention to their excitement, 

 save that he changed hisjosition^a little, but continued, 

 his observations. For a while there was a mutual ad- 



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