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9 some more than once, whose evidence amounted to 8,541 pages of transcript. Upon completion of his civic duty, he left with Malcolm Watkins for Marlborough Town, Va., at the junction of Potomac Creek and Potomac River, were they, together with Prof. Oscar Darter of Mary Washington College, will conduct excavations to determine, if possible, the size, number, and type of colonial structures that may have existed there near the end of the 17th century. This field work has been made possible through a grant from the American Philosophical Society. --- NEW RESIDENCE FOR COW BIRD An Old World bird that is a constant companion of cows has become extablished in the United States in the past 15 years. Unknown in this country before its first appearance in Florida in 1942, it now numbers approximately 2,000 in that State, according to a recently published Smithsonian report by Alexander Sprunt, Jr., of the National Audubon Society. This bird is Bubulcus ibis, the cattle egret, well known for many years in southern Europe, Africa, and the Middle East. It is a small, white egret with dark-brown feet and yellow legs and bill. The creature is most remarkable for its strange, constant association with cattle. Says Mr. Sprunt: "The close proximity to cattle is little short of astonishing. It is a positive wonder that it is not stepped on! It keeps pace with the animal continually, usually close by the head but sometimes near the fore or hind feet and occasionally under the belly. When an insect is disturbed, the bird darts out, catches it, and returns. Now and then, it reaches up and picks off something from the body of the cow, or its legs. Whether these tidbits are flies, ticks, or what, I do not know, but it is a frequent practice. At times, the cow may be seen to push the bird aside with its muzzle, but appears not to object otherwise to the immediate closeness of its satellite. "A very peculiar and, as far as I know, unexplained characteristic of the bird is the habit of weaving the head and neck from side to side . . . . A bird will suddenly stop feeding, stand perfectly upright, and weave the upper part of the body in a sort of hula-like motion." It feeds chiefly on grasshoppers and crickets. This may explain its fondness for cattle, which disturb these insects in the grass while grazing. How the cattle egret got to the New World, especially the United States, is hard to explain. It first was observed in British Guiana in 1937, but did not appear in this country until 5 years latter. The cattle egret population is concentrated in Florida but stray specimens have been observed as far north as Maine and even Newfoundland, and inland to Chicago. In the Old World it is known as a great wanderer. Mr. Sprunt believes that a few pairs may have been blown over the Atlantic by wind currents. ---