COWBIRD. 
(Milothrus a/ter.) 
USTROUS green black with steel blue, purple and violet 
iridescence. Head and neck, deep wood brown with some 
purple lustre; bill and feet, black; length, 7% to 8 inches. 
Female, a dusky grayish brown with slight greenish lustre 
on upper parts; young, duller brown. 
North America; migratory, abundant, gregarious, parasitic. 
It builds no nest, but lays its eggs in the nests of other 
birds smaller than itself. The eggs hatch sooner than other eggs 
and so crowd out the rightful owner of the nest. Usually one 
egg in a nest; sometimes more. White, speckled with brown. 
Miss Sweet had asked one of the girls to write 
about this bird, and now asked her to read her essay, 
which was entitled: 
A BLACKBIRD’S COUSIN. 
Cowbirds are not, in themselves, an interesting 
class, but they have furnished a theme for many enter- 
taining bird stories and lengthy descriptions of their 
peculiar habits. 
The only attractive thing about them is their 
unlikeness to all other birds. They have no bean+ | 
no song, no nest; and seem to be of little importance co 
the world except to eat a few insects and noxious seeds. 
Captain Bendire, in “Life Histories of American Birds,” 
says: ‘Their food is chiefly small grains and the seeds 
of ragweed, smartweed, and fox-tail grass. Taking its 
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