DWELLINGS. I43 



she does not taUe the trouble to construct, and more- 

 over at the same time assures for them the cares of a 

 stranger in place of her own. 



In North America a kind of Starling, the Molothrus 

 pecoris, commonly called the Cow-bird, acts in the 

 same careless fashion. It lives in the midst of herds, 

 and owes its specific name to this custom ; it feeds on 

 the parasites on the skin of cattle. This bird con- 

 structs no nest. At the moment of laying the female 

 seeks out an inhabited dwelling, and when the owner 

 is absent she furtively lays an egg there. The young 

 intruder breaks his shell after four days' incubation, 

 that is to say, usually much before the legitimate 

 children ; and the parents, in order to silence the beak 

 of the stranger who, without shame, claims his share 

 with loud cries, neglect their own brood which have 

 not yet appeared, and which they abandon. Their 

 foster children repay them, however, with the blackest 

 ingratitude. As soon as the little Molothrus feels his 

 body covered with feathers and his little wings strong 

 enough to sustain him he quits his adopted parents 

 without consideration. These birds show a love of 

 independence very rare among animals, with whom 

 conjugal fidelity has become proverbial ; they do not 

 unite in couples ; unions are free, and the mother 

 hastens to deliver herself from the cares of bringing 

 up her young in the manner we have seen. Two 

 other species oi Molothrus have the same habit, as have 

 the American Cuckoo and the Golden Cuckoo of 

 South Africa 



The habits of the Molothrus bovariensis, a closely 

 allied Argentine Cow-bird, have been carefully studied 

 by Mr. W. H. Hudson, who has also some interesting 

 remarks as to the vestiges of the nesting instinct in 



