(_Molothrus ater_) Blackbird family
_Called also_: BROWN-HEADED ORIOLE; COW-PEN BIRD; COW BLACKBIRD;
COW BUNTING
_Length_--7 to 8 inches. About one-fifth smaller than the robin.
_Male_--Iridescent black, with head, neck, and breast
glistening brown. Bill dark brown, feet brownish.
_Female_--Dull grayish-brown above, a shade lighter below, and
streaked with paler shades of brown.
_Range_--United States, from coast to coast. North into
British America, south into Mexico.
_Migrations_--March. November. Common summer resident.
The cowbird takes its name from its habit of walking about among the
cattle in the pasture, picking up the small insects which the cattle
disturb in their grazing. The bird may often be seen within a foot or
two of the nose of a cow or heifer, walking briskly about like a
miniature hen, intently watching for its insect prey.
Its marital and domestic character is thoroughly bad. Polygamous and
utterly irresponsible for its offspring, this bird forms a striking
contrast to other feathered neighbors, and indeed is almost an anomaly
in the animal kingdom. In the breeding season an unnatural mother may
be seen skulking about in the trees and shrubbery, seeking for nests
in which to place a surreptitious egg, never imposing it upon a bird
of its size, but selecting in a cowardly way a small nest, as that of
the vireos or warblers or chipping sparrows, and there leaving the
hatching and care of its young to the tender mercies of some already
burdened little mother. It has been seen to remove an egg from the
nest of the red-eyed vireo in order to place one of its own in its
place. Not finding a convenient nest, it will even drop its eggs on
the ground, trusting them to merciless fate, or, still worse,
devouring them. The eggs are nearly an inch long, white speckled with
brown or gray. (Illustration facing p. 54.)
Cowbirds are gregarious. The ungrateful young birds, as soon as they
are able to go roaming, leave their foster-parents and join the flock
of their own kind. In keeping with its unclean habits and unholy life
and character, the cowbird's ordinary note is a gurgling, rasping
whistle, followed by a few sharp notes.