THE OOLOGIST 



3a 



H. M. GUILFORD, Minneapolis, Minn. 



nests in the low foliage and thus es- 

 cape the squirrels, rats, snakes, owls 

 and jays, etc., have yet another enemy 

 to contend with. It is the parasitical 

 Cowbird. The Cowbird finds these 

 nests which have escaped the eyes of 

 the other enemies. It may be seen 

 searching anxiously through the foliage 

 for a suitable nest in which to deposit 

 its egg. 



Some birds when they discover the 

 presence of the parasitical egg will 

 abandon the nest or build another nest 

 over the one containing the illegitimate 

 egg. Every Cow bird is reared at the 

 cost of at least two song-birds. It is a 

 large price to pay. The Cuwbird us- 

 ually selects the nest of a bird smaller 

 than itself so that when the youug ones 

 are hatched the young Cowbird either 

 consumes all the food the old birds can 

 gather, or else it eventually jostles its 

 smaller companions from the nest to 

 starve or freeze to death. Oae day I 



was waudering along the out-skirts of a 

 Michigan wood, when my course lead 

 across the nest of an American Red- 

 start. The beautiful little birds were 

 busily engaged in carrying food for the 

 young. In the nest was a young Cow- 

 bird which over-reached and over-rode 

 the young Redstarts and monopolized 

 the attentions of the parent birds. As I 

 approached it opened wide its mouth 

 and cried for food, but I grabbed the 

 squaking intruder by the head and 

 hurled it far into the depths of the tan- 

 gled wood, and if it was not killed by 

 coming in sudden contact with a limb 

 it certainly did not survive long its pre- 

 cipitous flight through the air. 



The dangers of the nesting period on- 

 ly exceed in number those of the migra- 

 tion season. The young birds of the 

 season usually lead the flight to the 

 south. Wondei'ful, indeed, is that in- 

 stinct which guides a young bird, with- 

 out either experience or the help of its 

 parents, across vast expanses of land 

 and water to its winter home; or, 

 stronger than the devotion of mother- 

 hood, impells the older birds to abandon 

 their callow brood to take part in this 

 mysterious pilgrimage. The diminu- 

 tion of the supply of proper food is one, 

 but not the only cause o' migration, for 

 in the spring when the journey north- 

 ward begins the birds not infrequently 

 leave a sunny southern land teeming 

 with desirable food. Perchance these 

 sensitive creatures are unable to with- 

 stand the intense heat of the southern 

 summers or the vigors of the northern 

 winters, and hence come and go with 

 the seasons, living in a clime of perpet- 

 ual spring. 



Storms not infrequently over take the 

 birds in their migrations and sweep 

 them from their course. The little 

 ci-eatures waste their strength in bat- 

 tling with the elements until they be- 

 come so feeble that, when the wind sub- 

 sides, they are dashed to death upon the 

 earth below. When the birds pursue 



