COW-PEN BIRD. 495 



to resume their repose. At daybreak, they return to the cultivated parts 

 of the country to searcli for food. In Georgia and South Carolina, they 

 occur in great abundance every winter. Some also spend the winter in 

 Virginia and Maryland, as well as in the States of Kentucky and Indiana, 

 where I have observed them lingering about farm-houses and cow-pens 

 during severe weather. Great flocks, however, retire much farther south. 

 I have seen many of these birds passing high in the air, at mid-day, in 

 the month of October, pursuing their course steadily, as if bent upon a 

 long journey. 



The Cow-pen Bird, after passing the winter in the Southern States, 

 or in regions nearer the equator, makes its appearance in the Middle 

 States about the end of March or beginning of April, arriving in small par- 

 ties. Their flight is performed chiefly under night ; and during the day 

 they are seen resting on the trees, or frequenting the banks of streams in 

 quest of food. They continue to be seen in small flocks until the begin- 

 ning of June, when they disappear, the various flocks having successive- 

 ly passed northward. 



Its flight is similar to that of the Redwing, with which it frequently 

 associates in its rambles. During spring and summer it feeds on insects, 

 larvag and worms, frequenting the cornfields, meadows and open places. 



The males and females arrive together ; but contrary to the general 

 practice among the feathered tribes, these birds do not pair. The males 

 seem to regard the females with Uttle interest. The numberless acts of 

 endearment, the many carroUings, joyous flights, and bursts of ecstatic 

 feeling, which other birds display at the commencement of the breeding 

 season, are entirely dispensed with. When a particular intimacy takes 

 place between two individuals of different sexes, it soon ceases, and the 

 same individuals mate with others. The sexual attachment intended for 

 the benefit of the yoimg brood does not take place, because in this species 

 the young are not to be reared by their parents, but to be left to the care 

 of birds of other kinds. The Cow-pen Buntings, in fact, like some un- 

 natural parents of our own race, send out their progeny to be nursed. 



When the female is about to deposit her eggs, she is observed to leave 

 her companions, and perch upon a tree or fence, assuming an appeai'ance 

 of uneasiness. Her object is to observe other birds while engaged in con- 

 structing their nests. Should she not from this position discover a nest, 

 she moves off and flies from tree to tree, until at length, having found a 



