436 LIFE HISTORIES OF iNORTH AMERICA57 BIRDS. 



altliougli perhaps not much more abundant. In the prairie States this is espe- 

 cially the case, and one will rarely see a bunch of cattle there without an 

 attending- flock of Cowbirds, Avho perch on their backs, searching- for parasites, 

 or follow them along on the ground, hunting for suitable food among their 

 droppings. They generally act in concert; when one settles on the ground the 

 others follow shortly afterwards, and if one starts to fly, the remainder take 

 wing also. Their flight resembles that of the Red-winged Blackbird. When 

 the nesting season approaches, the males become very demonstrative in their 

 actions toward the females, but do not appear to mind the attentions paid by 

 other males to the same female, as other birds usually do, and rarely fight for 

 her possession. Free lovers as they are, they do not object to such trifles. 



At this time of the year several males may frequently be seen perched on 

 some fence rail or the limb of a tree, with the feathers of their throats raised, 

 tails spread, and wings trailing, each endeavoring to pour out his choicest song to 

 one of his prospective mates. This consists of various unreproducible guttural 

 sounds, uttered while all the feathers are puffed out, the head lowered, and evi- 

 dently produced only by considerable effort on the part of the performer. One 

 of their call notes sounds somewhat like "spreele," others resemble the various 

 squeaks of the Red-winged Blackbird, and all are difficult to reproduce on paper. 



It is a well-known fact that the Cowbird is a parasite, building no nest, but 

 inflicting its eg-gs usually on smaller birds, leaving to them the labor and care of 

 rearing its young. It appears to be entirely devoid of conjugal affection and 

 practices polyandry, the small flocks in which it is found during the season of 

 reproduction generally containing several more males than females. 



It is at all times more or less gregarious, especially so in the fall and winter, 

 Avhen it often forms large flocks, and associates then with the other Blackbirds, 

 like Brewer's and the Red-winged. 



The laying season rarely begins before May 15, and continues for about two 

 months. During this time probably from eight to twelve eggs are laid by each 

 female, or the equivalent of two broods, and I believe that several days elapse 

 between the laying of the eggs. It is not likely (and this is very fortunate 

 indeed) that more than half of these eggs are hatched, as some are occasionally 

 dropped in old and abandoned nests, or, when the female is hard pressed, even 

 on the ground; others in just completed nests in which the rightful owner had 

 not yet laid, Avho, seeing the parasitic egg in its nest, either abandons it entirely 

 or constructs another over the first, burying the stranger egg* among- the building 

 materials. 



When the Cowbird is ready to deposit her eggs, she quietly leaves her asso- 

 ciates and begins her search for a suitable nest, usually selecting one of a species 

 smaller than herself; but if such is not readily found, a nest of a larger bird will 

 answer equally well, especially if the full complement of eggs has not been 

 deposited in it. She does not forcibly drive the owner from her nest, but watches 

 her opportunity to drop her egg in it when it is unguarded. In rare instances only 

 will a fresh Cowbird's egg be found among incubated ones of the rightful owner. 

 I have observed this only on a single occasion. From one to seven of these 



