33 



say, that man even is in a state of moral degradation, and 

 iiis affections misplaced. But I think we are precluded 

 ^from supposing that the Cow Bird has at any period suffered 

 from degradation or misplacement of its parts, thereby ren- 

 dering it incapable of incubation, from the fact, that upon 

 dissecting it, no disarrangement has as yet been found. 



To my mind, it is evident, after giving the subject consid- 

 erable attention, that the Cow-bird's unnatural habits are 

 such as were given it, by the Author of its being, and are 

 not the result of the slavery instinct, degradation, or the vice 

 of habit. This is very evident, when we consider the singu- 

 lar fact, that when its solitary egg is deposited with those 

 of its duped nurse, the parasite's egg invariably hatches 

 from twenty-four to forty-eight hours before those of the 

 foster-parent. Here we find a special provision made in 

 favor of the Cow- bird, on which depends the continuation of 

 the species. How Mr. Darwin can account for this, by his 

 theory of slavery instinct, we cannot imagine. I have for 

 many years noticed one or more young Cow-birds in my 

 garden, reared principally in the nests of the Yellow-bird. 

 Sometimes the eggs of the parasite fail to hatch, by a floor 

 being laid by the owner of the nest over the egg and another 

 story being added to the domicil. The wailing note of the 

 young Cow-bird usually attracts the attention of my family, 

 and they are amused in noticing the fond maternal kindness 

 -of the little step-mother, towards the large, chubby, sooty 

 ■foundling. We have noticed for several years a change 

 taking place in the habits of our Crow blackbird. They are 

 becoming domesticated, like the Rook of England. This has 

 been brought about by the planting of the white pine in our 

 ^cultivated grounds. Wherever a cluster of these trees lift 

 ■their heads thirty feet, they are visited by these birds for the 

 'purpose of breeding, even when growing in our populous 

 Tillages. They are absent, for the most part, from their nests 

 during the day, showing that they are not yet perfectly at 

 home in their new location. The purple finch has likewise 

 -followed our cultivated evergreen trees into our grounds — 

 -a few years since, they were only to be seen in our cedar 

 pastures, but they are now quite numerous. With me they 

 breed on the branches of the spruce, and feed early in the 

 season on the flower buds of the white elm, and when these 

 iail, I am sorry to say, upon the fruit buds of the pear tree. 



ESSEX INST. PROCEED. VOL. iii. 5. 



