104 SINGING BIRDS. 
COWBIRD. 
COW BLACKBIRD. 
MOLOTHRUS ATER. 
Cuar. Male: head and neck dull brown; other parts glossy black. 
Female and young: brownish gray, paler below, with dark streaks. 
Length 7 to § inches. 
Nest. Does not build any, but lays its eggs in nests of other species, 
usually of smaller birds, such as the Yellow Warbler, Chipping Sparrow, 
or one of the Vireos. 
Eggs. ? (number unknown, probably 4) ; dull white, sometimes with 
green or buff tint, irregularly marked with various shades of brown; 
085 X 0.65. 
The Cow-pen Bird, perpetually gregarious and flitting, is 
observed to enter the Middle and Northern States in the latter 
end of March or the beginning of April. They make their mi- 
gration now chiefly under cover of the night, or early dawn ; 
and as the season becomes milder they pass on to Canada, and 
perhaps follow the Warblers and other small birds into the 
farthest regions of the north, for they are seen no more after 
the middle of June until the return of autumn, when, with the 
colds of October, they again reappear in numerous and aug- 
mented flocks, usually associated with their kindred Red-wings, 
to whom they bear a sensible likeness, as well as a similarity in 
notes and manners. They pass the winter in the warmer parts 
of America as well as in the Southern States, where I have 
observed them in the ploughed fields, gleaning along with the 
Red-wings and the common Blackbirds. They are also very 
familiar around the cattle, picking up insects which they 
happen to disturb, or that exist in their ordure. When on the 
ground, they scratch up the soil and appear very intent after 
their food. Sometimes even, infringing on the rights of the 
Plover, individuals, in the winter, frequent the margins of 
ponds in quest of aquatic insects and small shell-fish ; and they 
may be seen industriously occupied in turning over the leaves 
of the water-plants to which they adhere. They also frequent 
