The Cow-pen Bird is commonly known today as the Brown-headed cowbird. Female Brown-headed cowbirds watch and wait for the chance to lay an egg in the nest of a different bird species and then rely on that bird to incubate the egg and raise the chick. The scientific term for such parenting is brood parasitism. The female Brown-headed cowbird is known to brood parasitize as many as 240 other species. Just as perplexing are the foster parents that incubate and raise young Brown-headed cowbirds at such a rate to create flocks of millions of birds.
Plate 99 – Cow-pen Bird
Plate 99 of the first edition of "Birds of America" by John James Audubon.