"Come, sweetest of the feathered throng."
Our American Robin must not be confounded with the English Robin
Redbreast, although both bear the same name. It is the latter bird in
whose praise so much has been written in fable and song. The American
Robin belongs to the Thrush family; the Mocking bird, Cat-bird and Brown
Thrush, or Thrasher, being other familiar children. In this family, bird
organization reaches its highest development. This bird is larger than
his English cousin the Redbreast and many think has a finer note than
any other of the Thrush family.
The Robin courts the society of man, following close upon the plow and
the spade and often becoming quite tame and domestic. It feeds for a
month or two on strawberries and cherries, but generally on worms and
insects picked out of the ground. It destroys the larvae of many insects
in the soil and is a positive blessing to man, designed by the Creator
for ornament and pleasure, and use in protecting vegetation. John
Burroughs, the bird lover, says it is the most native and democratic of
our birds.
It is widely diffused over the country, migrating to milder climates in
the Winter. We have heard him in the early dawn on Nantucket Island
welcoming the coming day, in the valleys of the Great and the little
Miami, in the parks of Chicago, and on the plains of Kansas, his song
ever cheering and friendly. It is one of the earliest heralds of Spring,
coming as early as March or April, and is one of the latest birds to
leave us in Autumn. Its song is a welcome prelude to the general concert
of Summer.
"When Robin Redbreast sings,
We think on budding Springs."
The Robin is not one of our most charming songsters, yet its carol is
sweet, hearty and melodious. Its principal song is in the morning
before sunrise, when it mounts the top of some tall tree, and with its
wonderful power of song, announces the coming of day. When educated, it
imitates the sounds of various birds, and even sings tunes. It must be
amusing to hear it pipe out so solemn a strain as Old Hundred.
It has no remarkable habits. It shows considerable courage and anxiety
for its young, and is a pattern of propriety when keeping house and
concerned with the care of its offspring. Two broods are often reared
out of the same nest. In the Fall these birds become restless and
wandering, often congregating in large flocks, when, being quite fat,
they are much esteemed as food.
The Robin's nest is sometimes built in a corner of the porch, but
oftener it is saddled on the horizontal limb of an orchard tree. It is
so large and poorly concealed that any boy can find it, yet it is seldom
molested. The Robin is not a skillful architect. The masonry of its nest
is rough and the material coarse, being composed largely of leaves or
old grass, cemented with mud. The eggs number four to six and are
greenish blue in color.
An observer tells the following story of this domestic favorite:
"For the last three years a Robin has nested on a projecting pillar that
supports the front piazza. In the Spring of the first year she built her
nest on the top of the pillar--a rude affair--it was probably her first
effort. The same season she made her second nest in the forks of an Oak,
which took her only a few hours to complete.
[Continued page 59.]
[Illustration: AMERICAN ROBIN.]
[Illustration: MEXICAN MOT MOT.]