FAM. XIV. BLACKBIRDS, ORIOLES, ETC. 



145 



in size. This bird, like the cuckoo of Europe, builds no nest of 

 its own, but deposits its eggs one at a time, in the nests of other, 

 generally smaller, 

 species. Many of 

 these hatch and 

 rear the young cow- 

 birds ; though some 

 abandon the nests 

 into which the eggs 

 are placed, others 

 throw out the eggs, 

 and still others build 

 new nests over the one containing the parasite's egg. (Cow 

 Blackbird.) 



Length, 7| ; wing, i\ {Z\-i\) ; tail, 3 ; tarsus, 1 ; culmen, |. Whole 

 United States and southern Canada ; breeding throughout, and wintering 

 in the Gulf States and Mexico. The Dwarf Cowbird (495°. M. a. ohscurus) 

 of Texas to Lower California is very similar, though smaller. Wing of 



Cowbird 



female, 



tail, 2}. The Red-eyed Cowbird (406. CcdlSthrus rahustus). 



found in southern Texas to Central America, is larger. The male is black 

 with much bronzy luster, and the female brownish-gray, somewhat glossy 

 on the back. Length, 9 ; wing, 4^ (4-4 J) ; tarsus, 3 ',-3^ ; culmen, |. 



3. Yellow-headed Blackbird (497. Xanthocephalus .mnthoci- 

 plialus). — A western, ground-living, orange-yellow-headed 



blackbird, with a 

 blotch of white near 

 the bend of the wing. 

 The breast and neck 

 are also yellow, but 

 the lores and chin are 

 black. The female is 

 a grayish-brown bird, 

 with most of the head 

 and breast a dirty 

 yellow or yellowish 



Yellow-headed Blackbird 



white. These birds gather together in companies and associate 

 with cowbirds, and like them are often found on the ground 



apgar's hirds. 



10 



