THE COWBIRD 



The cow blackbird is a noticeable sonarster in 

 April, though it takes a back seat a little later. 

 It utters a peculiarly liquid April sound. Indeed, 

 one would think its crop was full of water, its 

 notes so bubble up and regurgitate, and are de- 

 livered with such an apparent stomachic contrac- 

 tion. This bird is the only feathered polygamist 

 we have. The females are greatly in excess of 

 the males, and the latter are usually attended by 

 three or four of the former. As soon as the 

 other birds begin to build, they are on the qui 

 vive, prowling about like gypsies, not to steal 

 the young of others, but to steal their eggs into 

 other birds' nests, and so shirk the labor and re- 

 sponsibility of hatching and rearing their own 

 young. 



The cowbird's tactics are probably to watch 

 the movements of the parent bird. She may often 

 be seen searching anxiously through the trees or 

 bushes for a suitable nest, yet she may still of- 

 tener be seen perched upon some good point of 

 observation watching the birds as they come and 

 go about her. There is no doubt that, in many 

 cases, the cowbird makes room for her own ille- 



