1 44 TJie Rohin, — Migratory ThriUh, 



sportsman need only take his stand near it, load, take aim, and fire ; one 

 flock succeeding another, with little interruption, almost the whole day : by 

 this method, prodigious slaughter has been made among them with little 

 fatigue. When berries fail, they disperse themselves over the fields, and 

 along the fences, in search of worms and other insects. Sometimes they will 

 disappear for a week or two, and return again in greater numbers than 

 before ; at which time the cities pour out their sportsmen by scores, and the 

 markets are plentifully supplied with them at a cheap rate. In January, 

 1807, two young men, in one excursion after them, shot thirty dozen. In 

 the midst of such devastation, which continued many weeks, and, by accounts, 

 extended fi'om Massachusetts to Maryland, some humane person took advan- 

 tage of a circumstance common to these birds in winter, to stop the general 

 slaughter. The fruit called poke-berries [Phytolacca decandra, Linn.) is 

 a favorite repast with the Robin, after they are mellowed by the frost. The 

 juice of the berries is of a beautiful crimson, and they are eaten in such quan- 

 tities by these birds, that their whole stomachs are strongly tinged with the 

 same red color. A paragraph appeared in the public papers, intimatmg, 

 that, from the great quantities of these berries which the Robins had fed on, 

 they had become unwholesome, and even dangerous food ; and that several 

 persons had suffered by eating of them. The strange appearance of the 

 bowels of the birds seemed to corroberate this account. The demand for, 

 and use of them, ceased almost instantly ; and motives of self-preservation 

 produced at once what all the pleadings of humanity could not effect. When 

 fat, they are in considerable esteem for the table, and probably not inferior 

 •to the Turdi of the ancients, which they bestowed so much pains on in feeding 

 and fattening. The young birds are frequently and easily raised, bear the 

 confinement of the cage, feed on bread, fruits, &c., sing well, readily learn to 

 imitate parts of tunes, and are very pleasant and cheerful domestics. In 

 these I have always observed that the orange on the breast is of a much 

 deeper tint, often a dark mahogany or chesuut color, owing, no doubt, to their 

 food and confinement. 



" The Robin is one of our earliest songsters ; even in March, while snow 

 yet dapples the fields, and flocks of them are dispersed about, some few will 

 mount a post or stake of the fence, and make short and frequent attempts at 

 their song. Early in April, they are only to be seen in pairs, and deliver 

 their notes with gi-eat earnestness, from the top of some tree detached from 

 the woods. This song has some resemblance to, and indeed is no bad imita- 

 tion of, the notes of the Thrush or Thrasher, [Turd us rufus;) but, if 

 deficient in point of execution, he possesses more simplicity, and makes up in 

 zeal what he wants in talent ; so that the notes of the Robin, in spring, are 

 • nniversally Imowu, and as universally beloved. They are as it were, the 

 prelude to the grand general concert that is about to burst upon us from 

 woods, fields, and thickets, whitened with blossoms, and breathing fragrance 

 By the usual association of ideas, we, therefore, listen with more pleasure to 

 this cheerful bird, than to many othei*s possessed of far superior powers, 

 and much greater variety. Even his nest is held more sacred amoi^ 



