THE SUNNY SOUTH OOLOG1ST. 



27 



is generally placed. This is usually sunk in 

 the ground, and has either a natural or arti- 

 ficial canopy over it. The nest is composed 

 of stubble, vines and grasses, neatly pressed 

 together by the female lark, on whom the 

 duty of nest building, as well as incubation, 

 wholly devolves. The set of eggs is from 

 four to six. These are of a clear white color, 

 variously marked with redish spots, and 

 measure l-10x.80 of an inch. The female 

 exhibits much cunning in her attempts to 

 conceal her nest, and prevent it from being 

 discovered if she has any suspicion that she 

 is being watched, but sometimes, when not 

 suspecting danger, she will drop down close 

 to the nest, followed by her mate, and that 

 unguarded act may lead the oologist to dis- 

 cover the treasure that she is most solicitous 

 to keep hid; but when she finds that her nest 

 is being sought for, she sits very close and 

 will not flush until almost trodden upon; 

 then finding her effort vain she darts up with 

 a scream and flies off to a considerable dis- 

 tance. If her first efforts at brood-raising 

 are successful she does not nest again that 

 season, but if robbed will soon deposit 

 another set. The first nest is generally early 

 in May, and the young are able to fly by the 

 end of June or early in July, but sometimes 

 nests with eggs are found while haying is in 

 progress, by the middle of the latter month. 

 The young generally remain with their 

 parents to the end of the season, and move 

 about in scattered flocks, after the manner of 

 the quail or grouse; and when they alight on 

 a tree or bush it is always on the topmost 

 branches, and from such positions their songs 

 and varied call-notes are wafted over the 

 fields. The Meadow Lark is not an adven- 

 turous colonist, for not until the wildwoods 

 have given place to grassy fields and pasture 

 lands does it become a tenant on the premises 

 of the Canadian farmer, but when it lias 

 (Hue arrived in a district, and is not much 

 disturbed, it is pretty certain to return, with 

 ureal regularity, to the same place, year after 

 year. This species is over ten inches in 

 length; the color of the plumage on the upper 

 parts is variegated with dark brown, bay, 

 and yellowish white; beneath it is yellow, 

 with a velvet black crescent on the 

 throat. 



THE COW BIRD. 



(Molothrus pecoris.) 

 The plumage of the male of this species is 

 deep black, except on the neck and breast, 

 which has a brownish hue; that of the female 

 is of a dusty brow T n color. In length it is 

 about eight inches. It generally moves 

 about in parties of six or eight, and frequents 

 the pasture fields, or the margins of the 

 woods, or along the roads in the older settle- 

 ments, being seldom found in the newly 

 settled districts. It is often observed where 

 horses or cattle are feeding, sometimes in the 

 shadow or among the feet of these animals. 

 Its object there is probably to secure the flies 

 that are disabled by the whisking tails of 

 these animals, or to feed on the grubs that 

 are found in their excrements. Besides in- 

 sects it also feeds on grain, seeds, and berries 

 of various kinds. Fhe affectionate care 

 which is exhibited by most birds for their 

 nests and young is not evinced by this species, 

 for it neither makes a nest, hatches its eggs, 

 nor feeds its young; these obligations it im- 

 poses on other birds, by depositing its eggs 

 in their nests. The nests generally chosen 

 as the cradle of its progeny are those of the 

 different species of sparrows, warblers and 

 vireos. I have seen the eggs of this bird in 

 the nests of the following species: Red-eyed 

 birds, Song Sparrows. White-throated, and 

 Chipping Sparrows,Black Snowbird, Redstart 

 Chestnut-sided, and Yellow Warbler, Gold- 

 finch, and Water and Golden-crown Thrushes; 

 but the same bird does not appear to deposit 

 more than one or two eggs in the same nest,' 

 for though more than that number is some- 

 times found in a nest, these would seem to 

 have been deposited by different females of 

 this species, and when they do so they gen- 

 erally always remove one of the eggs of the 

 rightful owner, so that sometimes a nest will 

 be found containing several eggs of the cow- 

 bird, undergoing the process of incubation 

 in which there is not a single egg of the fos- 

 ter bird. The eggs of this species are whi- 

 tish, thickly dotted with brownish spots, and 

 the general size .85 by .65 of an inch, but 

 both in size and marking there is much vari- 

 ation. The young cowbirds do not, like the 

 young cuckoos of Europe, try to evict their 

 fellow nestlings, but their superior size and 



