.1// Rights Rcscri'cd. August, 1920 
BIRD NOTES: 
THE 
JOURNAL OF THE FOREIGN BIRD CLUB 
The 
Breeding of the Bay-fronted Meadow-Starling 
(Agelaeus frontalis). 
By W. Shore Baily. 
Early last February I was offered, by Mr. H. E. Rogers 
of Liverpool, five Chestnut-breasted Cowbirds, three cocks ani 
two hens. On their arrival here I examined them carefully and 
was quite unable to see any difference ii: the sexes, and strongly 
suspected that they were all males. 
An enquiry into their country of origin and a reference 
to my books confirmed this: for although in the closely alliel 
Agclariis nifica f^iHiis from tlie .Argentine the sexes are said to 
be alike, in Cayenne, the district from whicii these birds came, 
the hen of agalaeus frontalis is of a dark brown colour, without 
the bay forehead and throat. However, I decided to keep them 
on the chance of some hen coming over with a later consign 
ment. On March i8th, Mr. Rogers informed me that lie had 
just received some sooty coloured Starlings from Brazil and 
was sending on two for my approval. When these arrived I 
saw at on.ce that 1 had secured hens for my l)ir<ls, as tliev exactly 
answered to the description of the female in Butler's book. A 
little later I secured a third hen, and so was able to turn into 
one of my big aviaries in May five cocks and three hens. 
At the end of the month, one pair of the Cowbirds 
commenced nest building in a spruce fir. 1 he nest war 'con- 
structed entirely of iris leaves, which were woven into a deep 
boat-shaped structure. This was lined with mud. Fou'- eggs 
were laid: white, sparsely spotted with b'own and ; urple. 
Incubation lasted ten days, from the laying of the fourth egg, 
but the hen was in the nest more or less after the second egg 
was laid. The young when hatched were the colour of oranga 
