Cow Bird

Cow Bird, Cow Blackbird (Molothruspecoris), the best known species of Molothrus, a parasitic genus of Hang-nests, ranging from La Plata to the North of the United States. Length about seven inches, plumage mostly black, with metallic lustre in the male, olive-brown in the female. The name refers to their habit of keeping near cows, and "finding from their parasitic insects or their droppings opportunities for food."