BOBIN 21 



teen bushels of apples that were worth a dollar 

 per bushel, by clearing the trees from canker- 

 worms in the spring, was shot when he simply 

 pecked one of the apples that he had saved for the 

 grateful or ungrateful fruit-grower." Professor 

 Beal, who has made a study of the Robin question, 

 suggests that as the Russian mulberry ripens at 

 the same time as the cherry, if those who complain 

 that the Robin eats their cherries will only plant 

 a few mulberry bushes around their gardens or 

 orchards, they will probably protect the more val- 

 uable fruit. The wild fruits the Robin eats are 

 of interest to most bird-lovers as showing what 

 can be planted not only to prevent the bird from 

 doing harm, but to attract him about our homes. 

 The wild fruits found in his stomach are dogwood, 

 wild grapes, wild black cherry, choke-cherry, bird 

 cherry, mulberry, greenbrier berry, cranberry, 

 blueberry, huckleberry, holly berry, elderberry, 

 hackberry, service berry, spice berry, hawthorn, 

 bittersweet, Virginia creeper, moonseed, mountain 

 ash, black haw, barberry, pokeberry, strawberry 

 bush, juniper, persimmon, saw palmetto, Califor- 

 nia mistletoe, and bayberry. 



Many of these berries remain on the bushes till 

 winter, and so keep the birds from going south 

 for food, for the Robin will linger if he can find 

 anything to live on. Doubtless it was imagina- 

 tion, for others report differently, but the Robins 

 I saw in Florida sat around in the orange groves 



