'thank you' to its
foster parents.

"A Cowbird lays only one egg in each nest, but sometimes several visit
the same nest in succession; and then the poor Sparrow has a hard time,
indeed.

"The Yellow Warbler is one of the clever birds who will not always be
imposed upon--you remember the two-storied nest we found; and some of
the larger birds push out the strange egg. But Cowbirds are very crafty,
and usually select their victims from among the small, feeble, and
helpless."

"Does this hateful Cowbird over sing?" asked Dodo.

"Sometimes in spring he tries to; he squeaks a few notes, and makes
faces, struggling, choking, wheezing, as if he had swallowed a beetle
with hooks on its legs and was in great pain. It is a most startling
noise, but it certainly is not musical, though perhaps it pleases the
Cowbird ladies; for if they have such bad taste in other ways, they
doubtless like such harsh and inharmonious sounds."

"I don't see what makes them act so," said Rap. "I thought birds had to
build nests, or have a hole or a bit of ground or rock of their
own--that it was a law."

"So it is, my boy; but the Cowbird is one of the exceptions I told you
about; and I am glad to say there are very few."

The Cowbird

Length about seven and a half inches.

Male: very glossy black, excepting the head and neck, which are shiny
dark brown like burnt coffee.

Female: dusky brown, the lower parts lighter than the upper.

A Citizen of the entire United States.

A Ground Gleaner and a Weed Warrior, to some extent, but a bad neighbor,
a worse parent, a homeless vagabond, and an outlaw in Birdland.

ON AGAIN

The road crept down hill, passed through a village, and then into the
woods once more. The children saw a great many bird friends--Swallows,
Goldfinches, a beautiful Blue Jay, which was new to them, and some
Yellow Warblers. They stopped for half an hour in the wooded lane, where
a Chat whistled to them, a Scarlet Tanager flew hastily overhead, and
the Doctor showed them a Towhee rambling among the leaves, while a
little brownish bird kept flitting into the air and back to his perch,
calling "pewee--pe-a-r!" in a sad voice.

"What's that?" asked Rap; "it's a bird I often see near the mill,
catching flies on the wing."

"It is called the Wood Pewee," said the Doctor; "when we come back this
afternoon we will stop, and I will try to find its nest to show you. We
must go on now." As soon as they drove out of the