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A few decayed leaves had been placed under them, but nothing else in the way of lining. A third egg had been added in the interim. There can hardly be any doubt of the truth of the foregoing facts." Bendire, Life Histories of North American Birds, 1892, p. 301. Separation of females while brooding.
Nor is that all; she will sometimes puncture the eggs of the owners to prevent their hatching, and thus increase the chances of her own offspring. Whether this is done with her beak or her claws is still an open question, Major Bendire inclining to the belief that it is done with the claws.
Bendire, Life Histories of North American Birds, 1892, p. 319. Dr. Linnæan Society, 1st June 1893. Many of us in our schooldays have admired the intelligence of Jackdaws having their nests in some old tower or belfry. They are able to distinguish according to the hour the significance of the various school bells.
W. L. Ralph furnished Bendire with the following observations made in Florida on the dwellings of this, the national bird of the United States: "The nests are immense structures, from five to six feet in diameter, and about the same in depth, and so strong that a man can walk around in one without danger of breaking through; in fact, my assistant would always get in the nest before letting the eggs down to me.
Says Major Charles Bendire: "In rare instances only will a fresh cowbird's egg be found among incubated ones of the rightful owners. I have observed this only on a single occasion." From one to seven eggs of the parasite are found in the nests of the dupes. In most cases the number is two, but in the case of ground builders the cowbird seems to have little fear of overdoing her imposition.
Major Bendire says that he once found the nest of an oven-bird containing seven cowbird's eggs and only one of the little owner's.
Denis Gale wrote to Bendire concerning the Golden Eagle in America: "Here in Colorado, in the numerous glades running from the valleys into the foothills, high inaccessible ledges are quite frequently met with which afford the Eagles secure sites for their enormous nests. I know of one nest that must contain two waggon-loads of material.
These highway robbers of the air often unite to gain possession of a prey already taken and killed, and ready to be eaten. When the Pelicans are returning from their expeditions with pouches filled with fish, the Caracaras attack them until they disgorge, and then alight to devour the stolen prey. Bendire, Life Histories of North American Birds, p. 315.
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