—32- 



Hn ©bb Birb. 



JBs /Iftorris ©ibbs. 



Have my readers ever heard of a bird that 

 never builds a nest of its own, nor cares for its 

 own young-? There is such a bird in this 

 country and it is known as the Cowbird, Cow 

 blackbird or Cowpen, because of its habit of 

 remaining- near the cows where it feeds on the 

 ticks and other parasites which infest cattle 

 as well as sheep. It is undoubtedly a very 

 useful bird, but because of its habitual inatten- 

 tion to household duties it is execrated and 

 considered as occupying- a very low position 

 in the scale of bird life in which we expect, 

 from comparison, to find all the better senti- 

 ments of the home life and affection for eg-g-s 

 and young-. 



When the season arrives for nest building-, 

 the mother cowbird looks about for other 

 birds' nests in which to deposit her own 

 speckled egg-s. After finding a suitable nest, 

 the sly bird waits until the rig-htful owner is 

 from home, and then steals to the nest and 

 lays her eg-g- along- with the eg-g-s of the right- 



