COW BUNTING. 
291 
that of the Blue Bird, thickly sprinkled with grains of pale 
brown on a dirty white ground. It is of a size proportionable 
to that of the bird. 
So extraordinary and unaccountable is this habit, that I 
have sometimes thought it might not be general among the 
whole of this species in every situation ; that the extreme heat 
of our summers, though suitable enough for their young, might 
be too much for the comfortable residence of the parents ; that, 
therefore, in their way to the north, through our climate, they 
were induced to secure suitable places for their progeny ; and 
that in the regions where they more generally pass the sum- 
mer, they might perhaps build nests for themselves, and rear 
their own young, like every other species around them. On 
the other hand, when I consider that many of them tarry here 
so late as the middle of June, dropping their eggs, from time 
to time, into every convenient receptacle — that in the states 
of Virginia, Maryland, Delaware, New Jersey, and Pennsyl- 
vania, they uniformly retain the same habits — and, in short, 
that in all these places I have never yet seen or heard of their 
nest, — reasoning from these facts, I think I may safely con- 
clude, that they never build one ; and that in those remote 
northern regions their manners are the same as we find them 
here. 
What reason Nature may have for this extraordinary devia- 
tion from her general practice, is, I confess, altogether beyond 
my comprehension. There is nothing singular to be observed 
in the anatomical structure of the bird that would seem to 
prevent or render it incapable of incubation. The extreme 
heat of our climate is probably one reason why, in the months 
of July and August, they are rarely to be seen here. Yet we 
have many other migratory birds that regularly pass through 
Pennsylvania to the north, leaving a few residents behind 
them, who, without exception, build their own nests and rear 
their own young. This part of the country also abounds with 
suitable food, such as they usually subsist on. Many conjec- 
tures indeed might be formed as to the probable cause ; but 
