244 



THE WESTERN ROBIN? 



Ii.id iR'vcr srcii aiiytliiiig more patliclic tliaii tlie stiiljlK)rn faitli of tlic man who 

 had (Iri'amcil <>f rearing a home amidst such desolation. How could a man be 

 ha|)|>y here? and how ilare he bring a wife and tender children to share 

 such a forlorn iiope? W'iiy. tiie wilderness around had raised nothing but 

 sage-brush and jack-rabbits for countless millenniums; but here in this tiny 

 oasis were locust trees and poplars. .\nd here, as the .sun sank low in the West, 

 a Roi)in burst into song. The nearest human neigiibor was miles away, and 

 the nearest timi)er further. Vet here was this iKJine-loving Robin, this re- 

 incarnation of childhood's friend, pouring out in tiie familiar cadence of oUl 

 his tiianksgiv ing for shelter an<l food, his praise for joy of life and gladness 

 to the Almighty, who is Father of all. And then I understood. 



The Robin's song in its common form is too well known to reipiire par- 

 ticular description, and too truly music to lend itself well to syllabic imitation. 

 It is a common thing, indeed, like the upturned mold and the air which fans 

 it, but out of these come tiie varied greens which lieautify the world; the 



homely I^iping 

 of the Robin 

 has given birth 

 to ma n y a 

 heaven-directed 

 aspiration, and 

 purged manv a 

 soul of guilty 

 intent. Robin 

 conceives many 

 passages whicli 

 are too high for 

 him. and these 

 he hums in- 

 audibly. or fol- 

 lows in silent 

 thought, like a 

 tenor with a 

 cold. When the 



theme readies his compass again, he resumes, not wliere he left otT but at the 

 end of the unheard passage. It must l)e confesse<l, however reluctantly, that 

 the song of tlie Western Robin is a little more subdued in character than that 

 of the Eastern. The bird is a little less devoted to his art, and the total 

 volume of sound yielded by any one chorus has never equalled, in my experi- 

 ence, that of a similar effort in the East. 



When tlie Robin is much given to half -whispered notes and strains un- 

 usually tender, one may suspect the near presence of his fiancee. If you are 



Sl'NSKT .\T TUi; KOmS ROOST. 



