BIRDS OF DURHAM AND VICINITY. 
65 
night of the third clay the last fish was gone, making the daily average 
137 1-3 grams. That is to say, a wild crow with a broken wing, kept 
in close confinement, supplied with what food he cared to eat every 
day for a week, consumed approximately one fifth of his own weight, 
during each of the three days succeeding. I also learned, during this 
experiment, that crows regurgitate whole corn and indigestible parts 
of insects, the time of regurgitation being from one to three hours after 
eating. 
Family ICTERID.-E. 
Dolichonyx oryzivoms. Bobolink. 494. 
Male Bobolinks put in an appearance early in May — May i is its 
earliest date on my note book — but it is usually ten or twelve days 
before the females are seen. The habits of the sexes are quite different 
in spring. Tke male is full of song, and is continually displaying both 
his vocal powers and his good looks ; while the female is as modest in 
deportment as she is in dress. She keeps so closely in the grass that, 
were it not for the aggressive attentions of Lord Robert, who pursues her 
with a determination that actually suggests violence, she Vv'ould escape 
notice altogether. It is plain that Bobolinks do not mate till after 
they arrive in the north. Among all our birds the Bobolink easily 
takes the lead as an ardent lover, and be it said to his credit, his 
assiduity does not wane with the assumption of family cares. He pro- 
vides food for his children, and shows the greatest solicitation when 
he thinks his home is in danger. The nest is a humble affair of 
grass stems in a little hollow. It is usually in a field and rarely or 
never near a bush or rank weed, such as many birds desire for a shel- 
ter. The parents show the utmost caution in going to and from 
the nest, always alighting at some distance from it and going in on foot. 
The young are usually able to leave the nest by the time for hay- 
ing, so that few are injured in that way. When the grass is cut they 
retire to corn and grain fields, v/here they keep in seclusion till the 
moulting period is passed, after which the migration begins. It is 
not later than the middle of August when the first flocks leave, and I 
have heard stragglers overhead as late as the twenty-third of Sep- 
tember. 
Molothrus ater. Cowbird. 495. 
The Cowbird comes in March, generally in company with Red- 
wings, demonstrating the old proverb about "Birds of a feather. 
This bird is notorious for two things, namely, for its fondness for 
20 
