The Bird Bath in Molting Time 



183 



A CIRCLE OF ROBINS 



The birds' need of water in the molting season explains their rather sudden 

 disappearance in late August or early September. At this time they are 

 feverish, weak, silent, almost 

 sick; their strength is expended 

 in growing new feathers; and 

 one will find them in the trees, 

 shrubbery, and willows beside 

 streams, rivers, and lakes. 

 They drink, and drink deeply, 

 every little while, and literally 

 soak themselves in water. I 

 eagerly watched those that I 

 had enticed back from the 

 river, some four blocks away, 

 and found that their conduct 

 at the bath differed from their 

 ordinary conduct in several 

 respects: 



1 . They had no fight in them. 

 Half a dozen Robins would 

 perch on the small bath at the 

 same time, literally surround- 

 ing it, while two or three would 

 get into the bath together. 

 Ordinarily, except with rather 

 young birds, a passage at arms 

 would instantly ensue if a 

 second bird hopped to the 

 bath while another was 

 drinking. 



2. They simply could not be 

 satiated with water. They 

 seemed to be burning with 

 fever. After drinking and bath- 

 ing to seeming repletion, they 

 scattered, but in twenty or 

 thirty minutes they were back 

 again, some crowding the bath, 

 while others surrounded it on 

 the ground and waited im- 

 patiently. 



3. Different species would 

 drink contentedly together, some- uo\ e and R( > u 1 .n 



