56 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



at a time. The young were fed by both sexes, but mainly by the 

 female, and left the nest in about two weeks. The young seemed to 

 be troubled by some insect pest, so Mr. Mailliard tied a can to a long 

 stick and sprinkled insect powder over the nest, after which the young 

 seemed to be quieter. 



Mrs. Wheelock (1904) asserts that the young are fed by regurgi- 

 tation for the first four days and that by the fifth day "earthworms 

 are given the nestlings after being broken into small mouthfuls, and, 

 as the days go by, these worms as well as large insects are given whole." 



James L. Ortega (1926) saw a robin apparently carrying water to 

 its young on a very hot day, 100° in the shade. "It took a few swal- 

 lows of water, then suddenly dipped its bill in the water and flew up 

 into an acacia tree nearby. There its nest was situated, containing 

 young robins. It didn't pause in its flight but flew straight to the 

 nest, and I believe that it was carrying water to its young. It made 

 repeated trips from the nest to the water pan, always flying rapidly 

 and straight to the nest. However, on returning to the water it flew 

 more slowly." 



Grinnell and Storer (1924) relate the following incident: 



A robin was seen to fly away from its nest nearby carrying in its bill something 

 which looked like a mouse dangling by the tail. The bird happened to drop the 

 object within the camp precincts and it proved to be a juvenile robin (with 

 feathers still in the sheaths) . The old robin had obtained a large piece of liver 

 from a pile of discarded mammal bodies and had carried this material to the 

 youngster as food. When the young bird had swallowed as much of the liver as 

 it could hold, a portion still protruding [sic] from its mouth. The parent, in haste 

 to clean the nest, had picked up the free end of the piece of liver, not appreciating 

 the fact that the youngster had swallowed the other end, and had carried both the 

 liver and the young robin out of the nest. 



Bailey and Niedrach (1936) report two instances of western robins 

 and house finches using the same nest. "In May, 1934, we were 

 informed that House Finches were feeding young robins in a nest on a 

 front porch in east Denver, Colorado. On investigation we found 

 four half-grown robins, two newly hatched finches and four finch eggs. 

 There were two female finches apparently with the same mate, and 

 the three finches and the two adult robins fed the young regularly. 

 Unfortunately, however, the large robins smothered their small nest 

 mates. We did not determine whether the four remaining eggs 

 hatched. All three adult House Finches fed the young rooms in the 

 nest, and after the young had left the nest." In the other instance, 

 the nest was on the back porch of Dr. Bailey's house, and here, too, 

 the adult robins and the adult finches fed the young robins, though 

 there was no evidence that the pair of finches had laid eggs in the nest. 



Like the eastern robin, the western bird probably raises two broods 

 in a season, and perhaps often three. J. Hooper Bowles (1927) has 



