52 BULLETIN 196, UNITED STATES NATIONAL MUSEUM 



a migration from the south; this was a very open winter. He heard 

 robins singing as early as February 11, 1925, but does not usually 

 hear them until about March 10. He has also heard them singing 

 in October and November and as late as December 14. 



TURDUS MIGRATORIUS PROPINQUUS Ridgway 

 WESTERN ROBIN 



HABITS 



According to the 1931 Check-list, the western robin "breeds mainly 

 in the Canadian and Transition zones from southeastern British 

 Columbia and Montana south to southern California, Jalisco, Oaxaca, 

 and Vera Cruz, and from the Pacific coast east to the border of the 

 Great Plains. Winters from southern British Columbia and Wyoming 

 south to middle Lower California and to the highlands of Guatemala." 



It probably intergrades with the eastern races somewhere near the 

 western edge of the Great Plains, but all the robins that we collected 

 in the Maple Creek region of southwestern Saskatchewan were 

 referable to propinquus, though Professor Macoun referred the birds 

 of that region to migratorius. North of the range outlined above, 

 typical migratorius is the breeding form. 



In Washington, the breeding ranges of propinquus and caurinus 

 are more or less mixed; this distribution of the two races has been 

 referred to under caurinus. It appears from Mr. Rathbun's (MS.) 

 notes that, although caurinus breeds in the coniferous forests, espe- 

 cially on the Olympic Peninsula, the pale form of the robin, pro- 

 pinquus, is found everywhere throughout western Washington, from 

 the Cascades to the Pacific, and seems to be the only breeding form 

 in the older, more settled and more open regions. 



The western robin is slightly paler both above and below than the 

 eastern robin and decidedly paler than the northwestern robin, but 

 the most conspicuous difference is that the white tips of the lateral 

 tail feathers are entirely lacking, or reduced to a very narrow edge. 



Before the prairies of the Middle West were settled and when the 

 bison roamed in vast herds over the boundless grassy plains, the 

 eastern robins bred in the northern woods of Michigan, Wisconsin, 

 and Minnesota; but, as civilization moved westward and trees were 

 planted about the ranches, the robins adapted themselves to the new 

 and welcome conditions and made their summer homes near human 

 dwellings in regions they had formerly passed over on migrations. 

 Robins prefer to build their nests in trees or on suitable ledges to be 

 found on human structures. Furthermore, they must have short 

 grassy areas in which to forage. The treeless plains covered with 

 long grass were not to their liking. 



