THE COWBIRD 



By Cornelia Sage 



These bold birds arc often seen walking sedately 

 amongst the cows; hence their name. The color of 

 the male is an irrideseent black, with a brown head. 

 In size the Cowbird is smaller than the Robin. 

 What should be his song is a squeaking cluck, tse-e-e, 

 squeezed out with difficulty and accompanied by a 

 spreading of the wings and tail. The female and 

 young are a dull gray. 



Cowbirds have no nest for the very good reason 

 that they are much too lazy to build one. The female 

 sneaks about the woods and thickets seeking an op- 

 portunity to lay her eggs in other birds' nests. She 

 persecutes the Yellow Warbler particularly. The 

 nest of the Warbler having been finished she watches 

 her chance to lay her eggs in it. Often, however, 

 the Warbler is a match for the sly Cowbird, weaving 

 a new bottom over the egg rather than hatching a 

 bird which would take up all the room in the nest 

 and push her own young out. 



EDITORIAL 



The much discussed question of resident vs. visitant 

 and of terms for the denotation of abundance and 

 rarity, chiefly discussed in the various issues of the 

 Condor are ones which are included by my title. I 

 am giving what to me seems a plausible solution. 



First let ns consider seasonal occurrence. There 

 are seven distinct groups which require a title. These 

 groups are as follows: (1) those birds of which the 



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