Further Notes on the Cowbird, with 
Remarks on the Nesting of the 
Prothonotary Warbler at 
Quincy, Illinois. 
. .. - (vloC 
Until the season of 1880 I had not been 
aware that the Cowbird ( Molothrm ater 1. ex- 
cept on rare occasions, laid its eggs in Wood- 
peckers’ nests or similar cavities used as 
nesting sites. 
During a two weeks’ collecting trip to Lima 
LakeinMay, 1889, while searcliingfor Warblers’ 
nests, and in particular those of Protonotaria 
citrea, I found, out of some seventy or more 
nests of this species examined, that no less 
than eleven nests contained the egg or eggs of 
this parasite. 
While usually these nests were in holes 
more or less enlarged and not deep, I noted 
on two or three occasions that, while the Cow- 
bird’s eggs wore in the nest the cavity was just 
large enough to permit the Warbler to enter 
and apparently too small for the Cowbird. It 
is also characteristic of this Warbler to re- 
main close about the nest at all times to avoid 
being deprived of their homo by some neigh- 
boring pair, for there are more birds than 
nesting places in the localities searched. 
On several occasions a hole would contain 
a nest and fresh eggs with still another nest 
built on top of it, also containing eggs, thus 
showing that some pair had driven off the first 
occupants. Several of these two-story nests 
which I brought home with me got somewhat 
crushed in packing, and the eggs were found 
broken within them. 
Still another nest was found, in which two 
females had laid, contained nine eggs which 
were of two different types and piled up on 
top of each other. Both females wore near 
and they appeared quarrelsome during the 
time I watched them. 
On this trip I found one nest of the Ken- 
tucky Warbler containing but a single Cow- 
bird’s egg which the female was patiently 
incubating. (There was one chipped egg of 
the Warbler on the ground near the nest.) I 
passed the nest daily for a week, each time 
flushing the female at close quarters, and 
finally I destroyed the egg, which was then 
nearly hatched, and took the nest. Another 
remarkable instance was reported to me by my 
friend George L. Toppan, Esq. of Chicago, 
Illinois. In this case the Cowbird had 
deposited its egg in the nest of a Cliff Swallow. 
Of/to C. Poling. 
Fort Huaehuca, Arizona. 
O a $5 Oa 
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Dr. H. A. Atkins, Locke, Ingham Co., 
Mich., writes as follows : 
June 1. — Cowbird laid an egg in the 
nest of a Wood Thrush which then con- 
tained two eggs. At 3. p. m. the Wood 
Thrush laid another egg, four in all. I 
have never found the Cowbird’s egg in a 
nest of so large a bird before 
June 2. — At 10 a. m. found nest of 
Golden-crowned Thrush with two eggs 
and three of the Cowbird, (five in all.) 
Broke the eggs and found them partially 
incubated. One of the eggs was nearly 
spherical. I think I have once or twice in 
my life found three Cowbird’s eggs in the 
same nest. 
O.&O. VII. Oct. 1882. p. /6y 
Cowbird Living with English Sparrows. — I have to 
report a Cowbird as living and accompanying a Hock of 
English Sparrows, which no doubt had hatched and raised 
it. It is only noticeable by its larger size and walk, which 
is not a hop, as is the Sparrow, its color is the same as the 
female Sparrow. — A. H. Boies , Hudson , Mich. 
O.&O- IX. Oct. 1884 • p • tW' 
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