176 Sketches of Some Common Birds. 



flocks, become shy and retired, inhabiting the woods 

 where they can feed on the wild grapes and berries. 

 Lowell's lines, 



"The sobered robin, hunger silent now, 

 Seeks cedar-berries blue, his autumn cheer," 



contain a rhythmic characterization of the fall mood of 

 our friends of the door-yard, now translbrmed into taciturn 

 woodsmen. On. the bright mornings of September or 

 October they can be seen about sunrise darting swiftly 

 into the trees laden with vines, or flitting away after they 

 have eaten their fill of the clustering grapes. In the dark 

 woods they flit here and there from one's presence as they 

 are disturbed in their repasts. Few trills and warblings 

 are heard at this season, but chiefly the squeakings and 

 calls of alarm, and thus they live until the changing 

 weather advises them to seek more cheerful quarters. 

 When they reappear in the woods at the close of winter 

 or on the first evidences of the approach of spring, how- 

 ever, as they usually do before they appear in the towns 

 and gardens, they are in full song. 



The majority of these birds journey in small flocks 

 southward from central Illinois in the first two weeks of 

 October. Observers in many localities, however, note 

 their residence throuofh the winter, or at least until very 

 late in the season. Where there are sheltered neighbor- 

 hoods, such as bushy swamps with open areas of water, 

 or thick woods supplied with berries, robins will congre- 

 gate in great numbers to feed on the clustering fruit. 

 They are particularly fond of the bright red berries of the 

 mountain ash of the northeastern forests, and vast flocks 

 of robins delay their migration until the supply of berries 

 is exhausted. Even in JSTova Scotia observers report that 

 several robins remain all winter in a given neighborhood. 

 Eobins wintering near the seashore make excursions to 

 the coast on sunny days at ebb tide to search for small 

 marine invertebrates for food. 



In the southern winter quarters of the robins, they 

 congregate in the swamps and denser forests where sup- 

 plies of berries and other eatables are to be found. There 

 their voracity seems to be boundless. Frequently indi- 

 viduals become so gorged with berries and so stupefied by 



