44 LAND-BIRDS AND GAME-BIRDS 



this ■way, great benefits upon farmers and fruit-growers, for they 

 are imtch more dependent upon the flesti of insects than upon 

 other food. I think that there is no doubt that between fifty and 

 a humh-ed Robins eat a million worms and injurious caterpillars, 

 if not more, during their annual sojourn in the neighborhood of 

 Boston. Professor Treadwell has recorded the instance of a 

 young Robin in confinement, who ate in twelve hours \^0 per cent. 

 of his own weight, and consumed fourteen feet of earthworms. 



The Robins possess greater powers of flight than do the other 

 thrushes, and can fly far and rapidly, often moving through the 

 air at a considerable* height above the ground, particularly when- 

 migrating. They have a habit of jerking their tail, which the 

 " wood thrushes " do not possess, and which is particularly 

 noticeable when they utter their notes of alarm. Th.e.y are not 

 brave, with individual exceptions, but are easily frightened, 

 particularly when sitting on their nests, and yet they are by 

 no means shy, and frequent familiarh^ the neighborhood of man. 



(d). The Robins have besides their song, and a very faint 

 whistle like the Cedar-bird's lisp, but one note, which is con- 

 stantly varied, usually- being in the winter, early spring, and fall, 

 more dreary than in the summer, when it is sometimes merely 

 a chirp, though at other times it is uttered in a tone of excite- 

 ment or vehemence and rapidly repeated. The cry of the 

 young is somewhat harsher than that of the mature birds, who 

 are very pleasant singers, and often warble a cheerful, ener- 

 getic song, consisting of a few monotonous notes, which are 

 repeated with some little variation, chiefl}' in the morning and 

 at dusk, in spring or summer. 



It is to be hoped that eventually the American people will 

 become as fond of the American Robins, as the English are of 

 their smaller " Robin Red-breasts," whose name our Pilgrim 

 Fathers bestowed upon the Thrushes of this country, now so 

 common and familiar to us. 



(G) NiEvius. Varied Thrush. Oregon Robin. 

 (One specimen of this bird, whose proper habitat is the 

 Pacific Slope, has been taken at Ipswich, Mass., in December.) 



