Cow-bird 303 
it is generally to be seen in small flocks of six to twelve 
individuals, in grassy meadows and corrals, in the com- 
pany of the horses and cattle. From Beal’s (1900) 
researches it does not appear to appreciate the parasites 
and flies found naturally about the cattle, but picks 
up the grasshoppers and other insects disturbed by their 
movements. The greater part of their food consists, 
however, of seeds of noxious weeds, whose destruction 
is a positive benefit to the farmer. 
Like the European Cuckoo, the Cow-bird builds no 
nest and undertakes no maternal cares, but foists its 
eggs on other birds, usually smaller than itself. Bendire 
enumerates ninety species made use of in this way, the 
largest being the Mourning Dove and the Meadow-Lark, 
while the smaller Finches, Warblers and Flycatchers 
are the commonest victims. 
It is believed that about eight eggs are laid, each in 
the nest of a separate victim, with an interval of a day 
or so between each ; where more than one Cow-bird’s 
egg is found in a nest, they have been laid by different 
individuals. Sometimes they go so far as to eject the 
eggs already in the nest, but even if this is not done 
the eggs of the host have little chance, as the Cow-bird’s 
egg hatches in most cases more quickly, and being 
bigger gets more warmth ; and, in the same way, if the 
eggs of both host and parasite are hatched, the Cow-bird 
being larger gets the lion’s share of the food, so that the 
host’s nestlings are either smothered or starved. 
Bendire (95) figures an egg taken from the nest of a 
Mountain Song-Sparrow on July 2nd, in El Paso co., 
while Aiken has taken two eggs from the nest of a Meadow- 
Lark, near Ramah, in El Paso co., on June 4th ; Bendire 
also states that W. G. Smith found a Cow-bird’s egg 
in a Rock-Wren’s nest, under a ledge of rock fully two 
