THE OOLOGIST 109 
No. 64. Set Turkey Vuliture’s eggs with runt egg. 
three days later. Will the reader 
please bear in mind that during these 
three days of extra incubation, as far 
as the writer could observe, the 
thrush neglected to feed her own 
young? 
Thus their growth and vigor was 
stunted at the start. However, when 
the young cowbirds were hatched they 
immediately started to grow with 
great rapidity. They put on their 
feathers twice as fast as the young 
thrushes and here is where the harm 
comes in. As is the case with man- 
kind, to give extra attention to the 
strong and robust, and neglect the 
weak, so it is with the birds. Mrs. 
Thrush, her poor, misled heart filled 
with joy at the wonderous develop- 
ment of the two orphans, spent all 
her time, gave all her food to them. 
When the nest was visited after an 
interval of three days, the young 
—Photo by R. M. Barnes, 
thrushes were the only occupants of 
it. Their physical condition was piti- 
ful. Their feathers were not half what 
they should have been. They seemed 
thinner and more scrawny than when 
they were born. They were even too 
weak to open their mouths and dis- 
play an appetite as young birds always 
do. Although the cowbirds were not 
seen at all, the reader will doubtless 
agree with me in my surmise that they 
are now healthy, strong birds, fully 
prepared and even eager to duplicate 
the crime under which they were born, 
The young thrushes disappeared from 
the nest the next day, but I feel sure 
that they fell prey to some squirrel 
or chipmunk, at least they are not 
now the beautiful matured thrush that 
should have been. 
Such cases are doubtless very com- 
mon. Very few birds are immune 
from this “Scourge of the Woods.” 
