726 MICllKiAN JUKI) LIKJO. 



little luu'ksiei' doetsii't cheat him in the btii'gain. Thut is to say, that while 

 the l)ird is not so precious that we need make it an act of sacrilege to show 

 him the muzzle of a gun in a cherry orchard. * * * qj^ ^^^q other hand 

 it would be an enormous blunder to wage ourselves, or to permit others 

 to wage, any general or indiscriminate war against him " (Trans. 111. State 

 Hort. Soc. Vol. 14, 1880, pp. 111-112). 



Study of the food of nine Robins killed in an orchard ovenun with 

 cankei-worms showed that only three had eaten canker-worms, these 

 forming about one-fifth of their food. Insects formed 93 per(;ent of the 

 food of the nine robins, myriapods 5 percent, earthworms and mollusks 

 the remainder. Cutworms were extraordinarily i)rominent, forming 28 

 percent. Half of them were the bronzy cutworm (Nephelodes violans). 

 Coleoptera formed 36 percent, of which 11 percent were click lieetles, 

 elateridae (Bull. 111. State Lab. Nat. Hist. No. 6, pp. 5-6). 



Prof. F. E. L. Beal, of the United States Department of Agriculture, 

 has reported upon the food contained in the stomachs of 330 Robins taken 

 at various times and places, and he states that 42 percent of the entire 

 food was animal matter, chiefly insects, while vegetable matter formed 

 58 percent of the stomach contents, over 47 percent being wild fruits 

 and only a little more than 4 percent cultivated varieties. During June 

 and July cultivated fruits amounted to upwards of 25 percent. Mr. E. 

 V. Wilcox, of the Ohio Experiment Station, reported in 1891 upon the 

 stomach contents of about 200 Robins taken in Ohio during April, May, 

 .June, July and August. He found that the beneficial species of plants 

 and animals eaten JDy these Robins amounted to 52.4 percent, while tlie 

 injurious species formed 18.6 percent, and neutral species 28.9 percent. 



There is no question that the Robin sometimes does a large amount of 

 good in its consumption of insects, especially by eating cutworms and . 

 grasshoppers; it must be remembered, however, that the major part of 

 its insect food is taken from the ground and that lience the Robin is a 

 factor of little importance in limiting the activity of tlie spanworms and 

 other caterpillars which defoliate our fruit and shade trees. It also eats 

 large numbers of insects which at best are not harmful, and which possibly 

 may be beneficial. 



It is a remarkable fact that no extended investigation of tlie Robin's 

 food, ])ascd upon stomach contents, has indicated more than a very sinall 

 proportion of earthworms, less than 2 percent being the maximum record 

 so far as we can find. On the other hand, it is a matter of common, almost 

 universal, observation that the Robin during spring and early summer, 

 and again for a considerable time in autunm, feeds very largely upon 

 earthworms. The writer has seen a Robin extract from the ground and 

 eat or carry away for its young ten or a dozen worms in as many minutes, 

 and observations made continuously for many seasons here in Michigan 

 have convinced us that the first brood of young under ordinary conditions 

 is reared very largely upon this diet. This is not due to the entire absence 

 of other food, but merely to the fact that the earthworms are a])undant, 

 easily obtainable, and in no Avay objectionable as food for the young or 

 old. This disparity between the results of observation in the field and 

 stomach examination in the laboratory suggests the i)robability that there 

 is yet much to be learned in regard to the food of the Robin. 



It should l)e noted particularly that in Michigan at the present time it 

 is unlawful to kill Robins at any season; furthermore, it is impossible 

 to shoot Robins which are taking fruit of any kind without serious injury 



