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Bird- Lore 



is fond of all of the family, even the dog, a 

 Gordon setter, on whose head he likes to 

 perch ; but he loves best his ' Bebe,' as he 

 calls Bridget, and when she goes out for 

 a day he keeps a mournful silence until 

 overjoyed at her return. He has all the 

 Robin vocabulary and song, besides various 

 whistles and tunes taught him by Bridget. 

 He modulates his calls in close imitation of 

 his teacher, and when with her is as happy 

 as any outdoor bird, perching on her shoul- 

 der and responding to her in the most 

 winsome manner. 



As it is a common occurrence for adven- 

 turous young birds to fall from the nest, 

 perhaps some readers of Bird-Lore will 

 copy Bridget, and add their experience to 

 the ' ' Ethics of Caging Birds. " — Ella Gil- 

 bert Ives, Dorchester, Massachusetts. 



An Albino Robin 



When the Robins returned to St. Al- 

 bans, Vermont, in the spring of 1897, a 

 pure white Robin with a red breast came 

 with them. This ' woman in white ' made 

 its home in an orchard, where it doubtless 

 nested, as it was seen carrying building 

 material there. Though the nest could 

 not be found, the bird stayed upon the 

 farm through the summer, becoming very 

 tame as the months passed, and coming 

 to the door for crumbs daily. 



The following spring the same bird was 

 seen upon the same farm, where it built 

 a nest in a maple, in the dooryard. This 

 little house, or more literally this little 

 housekeeper, attracted so much attention 

 that she deserted the nest, after three eggs 

 were laid, and built another upon the 

 opposite side of the same tree, in which 

 four young Robins were duly hatched. 

 A high wind soon brought both nest and 

 young to the ground. A third nest was 

 then made in the same maple, in which 

 five young Robins found a secure home. 

 Both nests and young birds were in every 

 way normal ; not a hint in a single feather 

 betrayed their unique motherhood. 



The bird did not return in the spring of 

 1899. In April of this year, however, it 

 came to the same neighborhood, and has 

 built a nest in an apple tree upon a lonely 



hillside, a third of a mile from its former 

 nesting sites. It is often described as 

 "as large as a Dove," though, after much 

 careful observation, I am certain that its 

 color, only, makes its size deceitful. Its 

 red breast, contrasted with the pure white, 

 also seems much redder than in the ordi- 

 nary Robin. Altogether it is as handsome 

 a bird as can well be imagined, its pink 

 eyes being noticeable as it sits upon the 

 nest, and its color making it easily seen 

 as it crosses the meadows or hops about 

 upon the opposite hillside in search of 

 grasshoppers. — Nelly Hart Woodworth, 

 .S",^. Albans, Vt. 



A Successful Bird Club 



[The following account of the formation 

 of a Bird Club at Newburgh, N. Y. , has 

 been prepared at our request, as an illus- 

 tration of the interest in birds which 

 may be aroused by an enthusiastic leader. 

 There is no reason why ornithologists 

 throughout the country could not achieve 

 the same success which has attended Mr. 

 Robinson's efforts to share his pleasures 

 in bird-study. — Ed.] 



Wherever there have been organiza- 

 tions studying the course laid down by 

 the Chautauqua during the past winter, 

 the subject of Birds has been presented 

 through that delightful little book 'Birds 

 through an Opera Glass.' It is doubtfu^ 

 if there was any gathering of people who 

 took up the study with more enthusiasm 

 and interest than the Chautauqua Circle, 

 in the city of Newburgh, N. Y. The work 

 was under the direction of Francis B. 

 Robinson, of that city, who has been a 

 close student of Nature for many years, 

 and he gave the preliminary talk, tracing 

 the development of bird-life, and noting 

 the birds that are now extinct and those 

 that are becoming so. This talk, with a 

 lecture on 'Expansion,' took up a long 

 evening, and it was found necessary to 

 devote the entire evening to Birds alone, 

 and Friday evenings of each week during 

 March, April and May were used for this 

 purpose. The study was pursued syste- 

 matically by over two hundred people, 

 among them lawyers, doctors, ministers 

 and teachers, and each active member 

 was assigned a bird to report on. This 



