WARBLERS. 69 
robin actually perching on my knee during my gar- 
dening operations, to so great an extent did hunger 
and the ardour of the chase overcome its natural fear 
of man. 
This robin, from the date of my first acquaintance 
with him, was always a very friendly and sociable 
bird, and I was seldom in the garden for even a 
few minutes without noticing him a few feet away, 
anxiously on the watch for any worms or insects that 
I might turn up. And even during the autumn and 
winter months, when family cares no longer oppressed 
him, his appetite seemed as insatiable as ever; and I 
have seen him carry away ten large worms in the 
course of as many minutes. 
It may be objected that in so doing the bird proved 
himself, not a friend, but a foe, for the earthworm is 
a most beneficial creature, and aids greatly in the 
preparation of the soil which enables it to sustain 
vegetation. And this, as far as the open country is. 
concerned, is certainly true. A field in which earth- 
worms are plentiful will always, other conditions being 
equal, yield far more abundantly than one in which 
they are sparsely represented. But in the garden, 
and especially in the seed-beds, so far as my own 
experience goes, they are decidedly injurious. The 
ground stands in little need of their services, for it is 
thoroughly manured during the winter months, and 
is, generally speaking, brought to a far higher degree 
of cultivation than can ever be the case with the soil 
of a large field. And the mischief which is caused 
by the worms, under such circumstances, is very 
