THE WESTERN ROBIN. 245 



willing to waive the proprieties for a few moments you will hear low murmurs 

 of affection and soft blandishments, which it would tax the art of a Crockett 

 to reproduce. And again, nothing can exceed the sadness of a Robin's lament 

 over a lost mate. All the virtues of the deceased are set forth in a coronach 

 of surpassing woe, and the widower declares himself forever comfortless. 

 It is not well, of course, to incpiire too particularly as to the duration of this 

 bereaved state — we are all human. 



In spite of his fondness for human society, there are two periods of 

 retirement in Robin's year. The first occurs in March and early April, and 

 may be denominated the season of courtship. After the first ardent greeting 

 of the home folks. Robins gather in loose companies and keep to the seclusion 

 of the woods, following the sun from east to south and west, ransacking the 

 roots of trees and the edges of standing water for food, and, above all, 

 sketching in the matrimonial plans of the season. When Robins have beci:>me 

 common al)out the streets and }-ards of village and town, partners ha\'e usuall_\- 

 been selected, but there still remain for many of the cocks hard-contested 

 battles before peaceful possession is assured. These are not sham fights 

 either: a Robin will fight a hated rival, beak and claw, till he is either thoroly 

 winded or killed outright. 



In late July and August Robins again forsake their familiar haunts, and 

 spend the moulting season in the woods, moving about like ghosts in great 

 straggling, silent companies. When tlie moult is completed, as autumn ad- 

 vances, they return in merry bevies to claim their share of the ripening 

 fruits — no longer begrudged now, for they prefer such harmless viands as 

 mountain-ash berries, and the insipid clusters of the madrone tree. 



Roljins occasionally winter on the east side of the mountains: and they 

 are hard put to it unless they find a sufficient supply of ungathered fruit, 

 preferablv apples, left out to freeze or rot as the season dictates. West of 

 the mountains thev winter irregularly but quite extensively. There is noth- 

 ing in the climate to forbid their staying all the time but I am inclined to 

 think that their abundance in winter depends upon the berry crop, and espec- 

 ially that of the Madrona (Arbutus iiicii::icsii ). The fall of 1907 was 

 notable in this regard. The trees were in splendid bearing, and a certain 

 patch on the bluff south of Fauntleroy Park was a gorgeous blaze of red, to 

 which Robins resorted in hundreds. 



Under such circumstances the birds establish winter roosts in convenient 

 thickets, and repair to them at nightfall in great numbers. One such roost 

 has been maintained on the outskirts of Seattle, just east of Ravenna Park, 

 and in the winter of 1907-08 I estimated its population at some four thousand. 

 The winter, it will be remembered, was a mild one, and every one in Seattle 

 remarked the abundance of Robins. 



In nesting, the Robin displays little caution, its homely mud-walled cup 



