Along the Chenango valley in the fifties, when 
woodlands were numerous and more in acres 
than now, it was not of infrequent occurrence 
for whole troops of summer robins to move back 
to these woods and there spend the winter. 
Pratt’s mountain, so called at that time, near the 
village of Sherburne, was a favorite winter ren- 
dezvous for robins, and frequently other summer 
birds. Where now are the woodlands that were 
once protection, not only to the birds, but to the 
soil? Felled by the axe of penurious man. 
The food and habits of the robin and blue 
bird are much alike. Both are hardy, quite as 
hardy as many of the winter birds. In tempera- 
ment they differ extremely. Robin is vivaciously 
loud, at times almost noisy, he is inclined to be 
selfish and domineering and is by no means a 
model in domestic life. 
The disposition of the bluebird is temperate, 
modest and attractive. He is quite shy of the 
approaches of mankind, and yet seeking a place 
for his nest he chooses one near the habitat of 
man. Their domestic life is more than com- 
mendable, it is charmingly realistic. Few birds 
give more or better attention to domestic life 
than the bluebirds. 
The bluebird is the stone chat, a hardy aris- 
tocratic family of Norwegian ancestry. They 
were given the name bluebird for their color, 
blue, being symbolical of divine life. 
The robin, so named by the Plymouth Pil- 
grims, is an American bord, the migratory thrush 
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