THE AMERICAN Roll IX. 



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 him- 

 self forever comfortless. It is not well, of course, to inquire too particu- 

 larly as to the duration of this bereaved state — we are all human. 



As Dr. Wheaton has already pointed out. the Robin occasionally de- 

 velops surprising powers of mimicry. I once found one in early spring who 



called his mate "Phoebe" with such a convincing accent that 1 spent a half 

 hour searching for the flycatcher. Another which sang hack of Orton Hall 

 on the O. S. I", campus had incorporated the familiar ringing vesper notes 

 of the Wood Thrush into its own song. He gave the borrowed notes in 

 three keys or qualities, all of which were essentially characteristic of the 

 other bird. 



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



