Some species of Molothrus, a widely distinct genus of American birds,
allied to our starlings, have parasitic habits like those of the cuckoo;
and the species present an interesting gradation in the perfection of their
instincts. The sexes of Molothrus badius are stated by an excellent
observer, Mr. Hudson, sometimes to live promiscuously together in flocks,
and sometimes to pair. They either build a nest of their own or seize on
one belonging to some other bird, occasionally throwing out the nestlings
of the stranger. They either lay their eggs in the nest thus appropriated,
or oddly enough build one for themselves on the top of it. They usually
sit on their own eggs and rear their own young; but Mr. Hudson says it is
probable that they are occasionally parasitic, for he has seen the young of
this species following old birds of a distinct kind and clamouring to be
fed by them. The parasitic habits of another species of Molothrus, the M.
bonariensis, are much more highly developed than those of the last, but are
still far from perfect. This bird, as far as it is known, invariably lays
its eggs in the nests of strangers; but it is remarkable that several
together sometimes commence to build an irregular untidy nest of their own,
placed in singular ill-adapted situations, as on the leaves of a large
thistle. They never, however, as far as Mr. Hudson has ascertained,
complete a nest for themselves.
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