COW BUNTING. 
207 
sylrania, 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 conclude, 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 
deviation from her general practice, is, I confess, alto* 
gether 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 conjectures, indeed, 
might be formed as to the probable cause ; but all of 
them, that have occurred to me, are unsatisfactory and 
inconsistent. Future, and more numerous observations, 
made with care, particularly in those countries where 
they most usually pass the summer, may throw more 
light on this matter ; till then we can only rest satisfied 
with the reality of the fact. 
This species winters regularly in the lower parts of 
North and South Carolina and Georgia; I have also 
met with them near Williamsburg, and in several other 
parts of Virginia. In January, 1809, I observed strings 
of them for sale in the market of Charleston, South 
Carolina. They often frequent corn and rice fields, in 
company with their cousins, as Mr Bartram calls them, 
the red-winged blackbirds ; but are more commonly 
found accompanying the cattle, feeding on the seeds, 
worms, &c. which they pick up amongst the fodder and 
from the excrements of the cattle, which they scratch 
up for this purpose. Hence they have pretty generally 
obtained the name of cow-pen birds , cow birds, or cow 
