372 



Bird -Lore 



with a broken wing came to the yard of 

 my father, ]\Ir. R. T. Stephenson, who 

 resides at Scio, Harrison County, Ohio. 

 He and the other members of his family 

 are fond of birds, and make a practice of 

 feeding them daily. This unfortunate 

 bird, of course, claimed their especial 

 attention, and came to rely upon them for 

 food and protection. She remained on 

 and near the premises all the summer and 

 became quite tame, at least as tame as the 

 average domestic fowl. Though the con- 

 dition of her wing gradually improved, it 

 had not entirely returned to its normal 

 strength when, in the early autumn, she 

 disappeared. 



About February' 12, 1909, a Robin was 

 heard chirping in the yard, and, to the 

 surprise of all, the bird which had been 

 befriended the preceding season came 

 directly to her former benefactors, and, 

 without fear, accepted the crumbs they 

 threw to her. The broken wing seemed 

 entirely healed, and it was only through 

 her lack of fear and the familiar manner 

 in which she conducted herself that she 

 was distinguished from other Robins; but 

 there seemed to be no question whatever 

 as to the identity of the bird. She re- 

 mained during the spring, and nested 

 somewhere in the vicinity. In due time 

 she brought her family of three young 

 birds to the yard; after two or three days 

 the latter disappeared, but the mother 

 continued in the neighborhood during the 

 remainder of the summer. 



In the early spring of 1910, and again in 



191 1, at the time the Robins customarily 

 make their appearance, my father and 

 sisters had the pleasure of welcoming their 

 little feathered friend after her season's 

 wanderings, and each time recognized her 

 by the fearless and expectant manner in 

 which she came to them for food. There is 

 no record of the bird having appeared in 



191 2, and, upon inquiry, I find a difTer- 

 ence of opinion as to whether or no she 

 came at all; if she did come it was only for 

 a week or two in the early spring. 



In the current year, the bird did not 

 put in an appearance at the usual time, 

 and it was supposed that she had at last 



perished. But in the early part of July 

 she was seen standing expectantly out- 

 side the window, and, when fed, she exhib- 

 ited the usual confidence toward her 

 human friends. For the first three days 

 she ate ravenously, and showed no fear 

 as crumbs were thrown to her and fell 

 about her; after that she seemed less 

 hungry and ate with the other birds from 

 a platter of food provided for them. For 

 several days, another Robin, perhaps her 

 mate, was seen in the yard; this one dis- 

 played the normal fear and timidity, and 

 did not remain long in the neighborhood. 



This season the pet Robin, as we have 

 come to designate her, is showing dis- 

 tinct signs of having passed the prime of 

 Robin life, for her plumage is faded and 

 rusty; she lies on the ground in the yard, 

 basking in the sunshine, with one wing 

 and leg outstretched, with head thrown 

 back and with bill wide open, somewhat 

 after the manner of a domestic hen. 



The story of this Robin is, it seems to 

 me, interesting as showing the remark- 

 able degree to which the faculty of mem- 

 ory is developed in this species. With one 

 possible exception, during five successive 

 seasons, this bird has, after an absence of 

 five months or more, returned to the 

 same place, and each time has remembered 

 not to fear the persons who befriended her 

 the preceding seasons. This individual is 

 also remarkable in that she has evaded her 

 enemies and survived the rigors of climate, 

 handicapped a part of the time by a 

 broken wing, during a period of at least 

 six years; for she could not have been 

 hatched later than the season of 1907.— 

 L. W. Stephexsox, Washington, D. C. 



A Roasting-Pan Full of Hot Birds 



This is what a lady of Columbus, Ohio, 

 testifies to having seen, when she dropped 

 in unexpectedly at noon one day to see a 

 friend. Not only that, but the friend 

 admitted that one of the birds was a 

 Cardinal, one a Baltimore Oriole, and 

 another a Catbird. The proof of this 

 pudding was not in the eating, however, 

 but in the attraction of the dish, for the 



