Western Robin 525 



autumn and winter it subsists to a great extent on berries, 

 and Trippe states it is to be found in very large numbers 

 among the Blueberry patches on the mountain sides, 

 in September. Its note is cheerful and musical, but 

 not especially remarkable. 



The nest is built of twigs, stiff plant stems and grasses 

 outside ; this is cemented and lined with wet mud, and 

 when dry an inner lining of fine grasses is added, the 

 whole forming a compact and strong structure. It is 

 placed in a bush or small tree, generally on a crotch, 

 and nearly always low down. The eggs, usually four 

 in number, are plain, unspotted, and greenish-blue in 

 colour, and measure about I'l x '80. 



Two or even three broods are raised in the year, the 

 time for finding fresh eggs extending from May 15th 

 to July 5th according to Gale's observations. He 

 further believed that a fresh nest for the second laying 

 was built at a higher elevation in the mountains by the 

 hen before the first brood was fledged, and that the cock 

 bird remained behind at the lower level to look after 

 the first brood imtil they were able to leave the nest and 

 fend for themselves. 



Dr. Bergtold has recently given a very interestmg 

 account of a series of albino robins observed by him and 

 others in the City Park in Denver during four successive 

 years, from which it appears that the albinistic characters 

 may in this case have been hereditary. 



Genus SAX I COLA. 



Bill shorter than the head, straight and depressed at the base ; 

 wings long and pointed ; outer primary very short, not a quarter the 

 length of the next ; tail much shorter than the wing, about square ; 

 pltimage without spots or streaks in the adult and with the basal 

 portion of the tail and coverts white. 



An extensive Old World genus, one species of which is a straggler 

 in the United States. 



