THE COW-PEN-BIRD. 17 



length bursting its fragile enclosure, comes tottering into existence. To 

 sustain the life and contribute to the development of this helpless being, the 

 mother issues in quest of food, which she carefully places in its open throat. 

 Day after day it acquires new development under the fostering care of its 

 nurse, until at length, invested with all the powers which Nature intended 

 to bestow upon it, it spreads its pinions to the breeze, and sallies forth to 

 perform the many offices for which it is destined. 



How often have I watched over the little bird in its nest, and marked the 

 changes which day after day it exhibited: the unfolding of its first scanty 

 covering of down, the sprouting of its plumelets, the general enlargement of 

 all its parts! With what pleasure have I viewed the development of its 

 colouring and the early manifestations of its future habits! 



Amid these wonderful operations of Nature, there is one which has occa- 

 sionally engaged my attention, and occupied my thoughts, ever since I first 

 became acquainted with the bird of which I now proceed to speak. 



The Cow-bird, which in form and character is allied to the Crow Black- 

 bird, the Redwing, the Orchard Oriole, and other species, differs from these 

 birds in one important circumstance, which approximates it to the Cuckoo 

 of Europe, a bird entirely different in habits and appearance. Like that 

 bird, it makes no nest of its own, but deposits its eggs, one at a time, in the 

 nests of other birds, leaving them to the care of a foster-parent. 



In the State of Louisiana, the Cow-pen-bird, or as it is also called, the 

 Cow Blackbird, or Cow Bunting, is seen only at long intervals. Some years 

 pass without the appearance of a single individual there. At other times 

 immense flocks are observed mixing with the Redwings, Crow Blackbirds 

 and Robins, searching about the farm-yards, the fields, and the meadows with 

 great diligence for food. At such times they are easily approached, and are 

 shot in great numbers, being considered more delicate and better flavoured 

 than the species with which they associate, excepting the Robin. Like the 

 Redwings, they seek the swamps and the margins of lakes and rivers, where 

 they roost among the tall sedges, flags, and other aquatic plants. When dis- 

 turbed in these retreats, they rise in a dense mass, perform various evolutions 

 in the air, and alight again to resume their repose. At daybreak, they return 

 to the cultivated parts of the country to search for food. In Georgia and 

 South Carolina, they occur in great abundance every winter. Some also 

 spend the winter in Virginia and Maryland, as well as in the States of Ken- 

 tucky and Indiana, where I have observed them lingering about farm-houses 

 and cow-pens during severe weather. Great flocks, however, retire much 

 farther south. I have seen many of these birds passing high in the air, at 

 mid-day, in the month of October, pursuing their course steadily, as if bent 

 upon a long journey. 



Vol. IV. 3 



