BIRDS AND MAN 49 



hiding, and it is then surprising to find how many 

 of the young robins left in possession of the ground 

 appear to take pleasure in the company of human 

 beings. Often before a person has been many 

 minutes in a garden strolling about, he will discover 

 that the quiet little spotted bird is with him, hopping 

 and flying from twig to twig and occasionally alight- 

 ing on the ground, keeping company with him, 

 sometimes sitting quite still a yard from his hand. 

 The gardener is usually attended by a friendly robin, 

 and when he turns up the soil the bird will come 

 down close to his feet to pick up the small grubs and 

 worms. Is it not probable that the tameness of the 

 tame young robin so frequently met with is, like that 

 of the robin who keeps company with the gardener 

 or woodman, an acquired habit ; that the young 

 bird has made the discovery that when a person 

 is moving about among the plants, picking fruit 

 perhaps, lurking insects are disturbed at the roots 

 and small spiders and caterpillars shaken from the 

 leaves ? We are to the robin what the cow is to 

 the wagtail and the sheep to the starling — a food 

 finder. 



Among the birds of the homestead the swallow 

 is another somewhat exceptional species in his way 

 of regarding man. He is too much a creature of 



D 



