'Bobby' 129 



to him. Suddenly he picked one up himself. That was a great moment. It 

 grew into a habit that at sundown I should follow him down the garden path. 

 He would pick up endless ants and one night he investigated a barrel of rub- 

 bish and flew from it onto my shoulder. 



For the first month of his life with me he slept in his basket on the sleeping- 

 porch where I did. One Sunday night he was with me as usual, but toward 

 dark he seemed to become excited and suddenly flew up in a tree and did not 

 come down. The next morning as soon as it was light I called to him. He 

 came down at once to my shoulder, and I fed him and he seemed glad to be 

 taken care of. 



I devised a scheme, then, to make it possible for him to get into the house 

 when he wanted to. I tore a corner in the screen of the sleeping-porch, making 

 a hole just big enough for him to hop through. My friends laughed at me 

 for expecting him to learn to go through a little hole like that, but he did. 



I coaxed him with the cheese that he had come to like better than anything 

 else, and he soon flew in and out as he wanted to. I kept food there and he 

 came in and helped himself. He often came in the early morning and would 

 wake me up with his insistent little chirp. He amused himself pulling my 

 hair and pecking at my eyes. I used to keep my hand over my eyes and peek 

 through my fingers at him; he was so funny. 



I wish I could tell all the bright, happy things he did. One morning when 

 he had just begun to fly I left him alone on the back porch and went to work 

 among the flowers. I wanted to see what he would do, and he flew straight 

 for me and settled in my neck under my chin. He was a dear thing. I was the 

 only mother he knew and he came to me as young Robins follow their parents. 



One morning he disappeared and my heart sank! There were so many 

 things that might happen, but after a couple of hours a neighbor brought him 

 home. She found him on the porch of the Hospital next door. He insisted 

 on sitting on the shoulder of a half-blind patient, and the patient was dis- 

 tracted and was trying to brush him off. The nurse separated them and took 

 Bobby into the children's ward where he had a beautiful time. He often ate 

 his meals with me in the dining-room, hopping over to the flower-dish in the 

 middle of the table when he wanted a drink of water. He was afraid of no- 

 body and amused everybody by flying onto their heads or shoulders when 

 they came to the house. 



At this stage I was afraid he might degenerate into a pet Robin, and I had 

 visions of a floppy Robin always hanging about instead of taking care of him- 

 self. I tried to discourage him from staying in the house too much. He 

 would always fly up to a window when he saw me, and I sometimes refused to 

 let him in. However, he soon flew farther and farther afield and seemed to 

 get stronger. He was a great talker when he was with you, carrying on quite 

 a conversation, a low chirping in his throat. I hoped he would sing but he 

 never did. 



