THE AMERICAN ROBIN AND HIS CONGENERS. 75 



By virtue of being a thrush, our robin enjoys a very exten- 

 sive range of country for his habitat. From the Atlantic to the 

 Pacific, across the continent, from the shores of the Arctic Ocean 

 to Mexico and Central America, he is found abundantly, breed- 

 ing throughout the forest limits of this wide area, and building 

 the same nest of dried grass, roots, and plastered mud about 

 every homestead in the land. Although a bird of the woodland, 

 like all the thrushes, he yet prefers the garden and the orchard 

 — even the trees that stand in the midst of the bustling city hold 

 his nest. Insectivorous by nature, 

 but varying his diet largely with 

 the small, wild berries of the 

 woods, the robin has become, 

 since man's invasion, a lover of 

 fruit, keeping pace with man in 

 the cultivation of his taste. The 

 excellence of his taste can not be 

 denied. He takes the biggest 

 cherries of the most approved va- 

 rieties, and the luscious straw- 

 berries are his delight. Yet for 

 all the fruit he eats he repays the 

 horticulturist double by devour- 

 ing threefold more of insect-life 

 that would ultimately cover and 



destroy the trees, leaf, root, and branch. Fortunate it is that 

 we have recognized his valuable service, and protected him by 

 legislation. 



The true thrushes — and the robin may be taken as a type — 

 present some very interesting features in their development, 

 characters, and geographical distribution, a study of which 

 throws light not only upon the history of the birds themselves, 

 but also upon several widely different subjects. 



The thrushes belong to the most highly organized group of 

 birds — the Passeres — and are farthest removed in structure from 

 the early reptiloid forms. They possess the most complete vocal 

 apparatus — a syrinx — situated at the lower end of the windpipe, 

 with five intrinsic pairs of muscles. The wing has undergone a 

 reduction in the number of its primaries or quill-feathers grow- 

 ing from the long finger, there being ten of these, the first one 

 short and abortive, so that the thrushes may be looked upon as 

 still advancing toward the highest type of wing-structure, that 

 of nine primaries. In conjunction with this, the foot or leg is 

 " booted " — i. e., covered by an unbroken plate of hard, leathery 

 skin, not reticulated and scaled, as in other forms. A decided 

 change has also taken place in the " molt," or shedding of 



