October 



eagerly devoured by the robin and other 

 thrushes." 



On account of a prejudice against the robin, 

 due to his occasional depredations in the or- 

 chard, I venture to quote a passage from an acute 

 observer of the habits of birds, Wilson Flagg, 

 who says, in speaking of the robin : " The 

 more I have studied his habits the more I am 

 convinced of his usefulness. Indeed, I am 

 now fully persuaded that he is valuable beyond 

 all other species of birds, and that his services 

 are absolutely indispensable to the farmer of 

 New England. Some persons believe that the 

 robin is exclusively a frugivorous bird, and that 

 for fruit he will reject all other food that is 

 within his reach. Others believe that his diet 

 consists about equally of fruits and angle- 

 worms, but that he is not a general consumer 

 of insects. The truth is, the robin is almost 

 exclusively insectivorous, and uses fruit, as we 

 do, only as a dessert, and not for his subsist- 

 ence, except in winter, when his insect - food 

 cannot be obtained." 



In view of such testimony, which was based 

 upon careful observation, and protracted and 

 painstaking experiments, and much more of the 

 same sort that might be cited, the occasional 



2S5 



