216 
ICTERUS PECORIS. 
belongs ; but from the facts stated, I am inclined to adopt 
such an opinion. How are the eggs removed after the 
accouchement of the spurious occupant ? By the pro- 
prietor of the nest unquestionably ; for this is consis- 
tent with the rest of her economy. After the power of 
hatching them is taken away by her attention to the 
young stranger, the eggs would be only an encumbrance, 
and therefore instinct prompts her to remove them. I 
might add, that I have sometimes found the eggs of the 
sparrow, in which were unmatured young ones, lying 
near the nest containing a cow bird, and therefore I 
cannot resist this conclusion. Would the foster parent 
feed two species of young at the same time ? I believe 
not. I have never seen an instance of any bird feeding 
the young of another, unless immediately after losing 
her own. I should think the sooty-looking stranger 
would scarcely interest a mother while the cries of her 
own offspring, always intelligible, were to be heard. 
Should such a competition ever take place, I judge the 
stranger would be the sufferer, and probably the species 
soon become extinct. Why the lex naturce conservatrix 
should decide in favour of the surreptitious progeny is 
not for me to determine. 
“ As to the vocal powers of this bird, I believe its 
pretensions are very humble, none of its notes deserving 
the epithet musical. The sort of simple cackling com- 
plaint it utters at being disturbed, constitutes also the 
expression of its pleasure at finding its companions, 
varying only in a more rapidly repeated monotony. 
The deportment of the male during his promiscuous 
intercourse with the other sex, resembles much that of 
a pigeon in the same situation. He uses nearly the 
same gestures ; and by attentively listening, you will 
hear a low, guttural sort of muttering, which is the 
most agreeable of his notes, and not unlike the cooing 
of a pigeon. 
“ This, sir, is the amount of my information on this 
subject ; and is no more than a transcript from my 
notes made several years ago. For ten years past, 
since I have lived in this city, many of the impressions of 
