244 



THE WESTERN ROBIN. 



liatl never seen anything more pathetic than the stubijorn faitli of the man wlio 

 had (h'eamed (.)f rearing a liome amidst such desolation. How could a man be 

 happy here? and how dare he bring a wife and tender children to share 

 such a forlorn hope? Why, the wilderness around had raised nothing but 

 sage-brush and jack-rabbits for countless millenniums; but here in this tiny 

 oasis W'Cre locust trees and poplars. And here, as the sun sank low in the West, 

 a Robin burst into song. The nearest human neighbor was miles away, and 

 the nearest timber further. Yet here was this home-loving Robin, this re- 

 incarnation of chiklhood's friend, pouring out in the familiar cadence of old 

 his thanksgiving for slielter and food, his praise for joy of life and gladness 

 to the Almighty, wdio is Fatlier of all. And then I understood. 



The Rolnn's song in its common form is too well known to require par- 

 ticular description, and too truly music to lend itself well to syllabic imitation. 

 It is a common thing, indeed, like the upturned mold and the air which fans 

 it, i)ut out of these come tlie varied greens whicli l>eautit\- the world: the 



homely piping 

 of the Robin 

 has given Ijirth 

 to ma n y a 

 heaven-directed 

 aspiration, and 

 purged many a 

 soul of guilty 

 intent. Robin 

 conceives many 

 passages which 

 are too high for 

 him. and these 

 he hums in- 

 audibly. or fol- 

 lows in silent 

 thought, like a 

 tenor with a 

 cold. When the 



theme reaches his compass again, he resumes, not where he left off but at the 

 end of the unheard passage. It must be confessed, however reluctantl)-. that 

 the song of the Western Robin is a little more subdued in character than that 

 of the Eastern. The Ijird is a little less devoted to his art, and the total 

 volume of sound \'ielded by any one chorus has never ecjualled, in my e.xperi- 

 ence, that of a similar effort in the East. 



When the Robin is much given to half-whispered notes and strains un- 

 usually tender, one may suspect the near presence of his fiancee. If you are 



SUNSET AT THE ROBIN ROOST. 



