An Experience with a Robin 261 



After breakfast we went out to feed them some worms. The little one would 

 not take a thing from our hands and did not know enough to pick them up. 

 Bobby would take a worm and break it up in inch lengths and have his mouth 

 full of the pieces but would not swallow. We were puzzled. Just then Bobby 

 hopped up to the little one and pecked him twice on the bill. The little one 

 opened his mouth and in went the pieces, one at a time. 



From that time Bobby took entire charge of the little one and would not 

 eat a thing himself until the little one was so full he refused to eat any more. 



Bobby would still eat from our hands and twitter and flutter his wings just 

 as the little Robin did when he fed him. 



From the first week we had Bobby he would take a bath every day. The 

 third day after we had the little Robin, when I put the basin of water into 

 the cage he went right into it. Bobby hopped up on the perch nearby chirp- 

 ing and twittering and went through all the motions of drying his feathers 

 though he was not wet a bit. I wondered if he were trying to teach the little 

 one. They both enjoyed their bath and on real hot days went into the water 

 two or three times. 



They both looked alike and we could not tell whether they were both males 

 or females. We fed them worms, cherries, berries, scraped beef, and bread and 

 milk and they grew rapidly. 



After we had had them six weeks we let them go as they seemed strong 

 enough and old enough to care for themselves. The younger one having been 

 bird-fed, flew away and we never saw him again; but Bobby came back every 

 day and took his bath and let us feed and pet him. 



The wild Robins were horrid to him. They would fly at him and even when 

 he was within six feet of me they would fly down and pick out a bill full of 

 his feathers. We never could understand why they disliked him so. 



Every day I would go out into the garden and call Bobby and he would 

 come flying down at my feet or alight in a branch near my head and take 

 whatever I offered him or just talk to me in his bird language. He came to the 

 upper porch, usually about 12.30 p.m., every day for his bath. He was so tame 

 we were afraid the cats would get him for he did not watch out like the wild 

 birds. 



One day I saw the same cat that had caught them in the first place coming 

 from the garden. I hurried out and called Bobby but he did not come and we 

 never saw him again. 



