ecrgs in the n<?sts of other birds, generally imposing upon smaller birds 
as the sparrows, vireoes and warblers. The cowbird's egg hatches first 
and the young intruder crowds out, or by his rapacious appetite starves 
the rightful occupants of the nest. Every full grown cowbird then may 
represent the destruction of a nestful of some beneficial birds and sweet 
songsters. Some one has described the cowbird as a bad neighbor, a 
worse parent, a homeless vagabond, and an outlaw in bird land. 
RED-WINGED BLACKBIRD— (^g^/a^wj phoeniceus.) 
:\Iale, glossy black except the scarlet shoulders edged with buff. 
Female, mixed rusty black and buff with dull reddish orange buff. 
Length about nine and one-half inches. 
After U. S. Biological Survey. 
Arrival March 25 to April 25. 
Favorite Hdunts. Along the marshy shores of rivers, lakes and 
ponds. 
38 
