[13]. This genus, and the following sub-genera, were named by Mr. Gould at a meeting of the Zool. Soc. Jan. 10 1837, p. 4. of Proceedings.
[14]. Remarks on the Plumage of Birds, Charlsworth’s Mag. of Nat. History, vol. i. p. 480.
[15]. Fauna Borealis, Birds, p. 278. Dr. Richardson states that the egg is only seven lines and a half in length. I presume the measure of eight lines, instead of twelve to the inch, must in this case have been used. I am much indebted to the kindness of Mr. Yarrell for lending me an egg of the Molothrus pecoris, forming part of a collection of North American eggs in his possession.
[16]. Wilson’s American Ornithology, vol. ii. p. 162.
[17]. Magazine of Zoology and Botany, vol. i. p. 217.
[18]. See Azara, vol. iii. p. 170.
[19]. It appears that the eggs in the same nest with that of the Molothrus pecoris, are turned out by the parent birds before they are hatched, owing to the egg of the M. pecoris being hatched in an unusually short time; in the case of the young cuckoo, as is well known, the young bird itself throws out its foster-brothers. Mr. C. Fox, however, (Silliman’s American Journal, vol. xxix. p. 292), relates an instance of three young sparrows having been found alive with a Molothrus.
[20]. Humboldt, Pers. Narr. vol. v. part 1. p. 352. Cook’s Third Voyage, vol. ii. and Beechey’s Voyage.
[21]. Cowley’s Voyage, p. 10, in Dampier’s Collection of Voyages.
[22]. Dampier’s Voyage, vol. i. p. 103. For some further observations on the tameness of the birds on this and some other islands, see my Journal of Researches, p. 475.