Cowbird Again Noted in Los Angeles County
Cowbird again Noted in Los Angeles County
On July 1, 1910, with George Willett and Antonin and Alphonse Jay, I was down in the lowland willows, and we found three nests of the California Cuckoo (Coccyzus a. occidentalis)--one with young less than a week old, one nest with four eggs, and one with three eggs. While passing along the road we observed a bird which I am morally sure was a female Cowbird (Molutltrus a. Obsucorus) as it was considerably less in size than a female Brewer Blackbird, and of the umber brown color thruout, of the eastern female cowbird. While in the willows, Antonin Jay discovered a nest of the Trail Flycatcher, with two eggs of its own and one of the cowbird; and while I was watching the cuckoo with her brood of young, a male yellowthroat came hopping along with a young cowbird in close tow, coming within ten feet of where I sat. This youngster was fully fledged, but still bobtailed, and was about twice the size of the yellowthroat; the yellowthroat would frequently run up to him and put something into his bill. The little fellow was, as nearly as I could make out, quite streaked.
