"Why we concluded to abandon the nest and build another, but on second thought gave up that plan. We simply built a floor over the lower portion of the nest, and on the upper floor, or second story, so to speak, my mate deposited four eggs, those, with the one shut in with the Cowbird's, making her full complement, you see."
"It would have been far easier, it seems to me," said Mr. Towhee, "to have thrown Mrs. Cowbird's eggs out of the nest as we did. But then you and your mate must learn by experience and you will know better what to do the next time."
"Doubtless," said Mr. Yellow-throat, a trifle stiffly, "but my mate is a very dainty bird and wouldn't for a moment think of using a cradle for her little ones that had been occupied, even for a short time, by two female tramps."
"Hm!" replied Mr. Towhee, in his turn not altogether pleased, "that accounts probably for the number of abandoned nests one meets with every year, containing a speckled egg of Mrs. Cowbird's. Too dainty, indeed!"
"Did you ever happen to see one of the homeless creatures seeking somebody else's nest in which to lay her egg?" interrupted Mr. Chipping Sparrow, scenting a quarrel in the air. "I saw one in the woods once sneaking through the undergrowth, and when Mr. and Mrs. Red-eyed Vireo had flown away for a little time, out she crept, inspected their nest, and, finding it to her taste, entered and deposited her egg. She felt sure, you see, that Mrs. Vireo had a kind heart and would hatch out the foundling with her own."
"And she did," sadly said Mr. Vireo, "she did."
"The company the tribe keeps is no better than themselves," said Mr. Wood Thrush. "During the breeding-season you will see the grackles, and red-winged blackbirds, and the cowbirds chattering and gossipping together, as they roost for the night. They are a lawless crew. No self-respecting bird will be found in such company."
"I saw a number of the cowbird tribe perching on the backs of a bunch of cattle in the pasture-land to-day," said a very young Mr. Flycather. "What do you suppose they were doing?"
"Searching for parasites," gruffly said an old bird; "that's the reason they are called cowbirds. They were once called 'buffalo birds' for the same reason."
No one spoke for the space of several minutes.