THE WESTERN ROBIN. 245 



willing to \vai\e the prnprieties for a few nionients _\-ou will hear Inw nuirniurs 

 of affection and soft blandishments, which it would tax the art of a Crockett 

 to reproduce. And again, nothing can exceed the sadness of a Robin's lament 

 over a lost mate. All the \ irtues of the deceased are set forth in a coronach 

 of surpassing woe, and the widnwer tleclares himself forever comfortless. 

 It is not well, of course, tn incpiire lixi particularly as to the duration of this 

 bereaved state — we arc all human. 



In spite of his fondness f(ir human society, there arc twu periods of 

 retirement in Robin's year. The first occurs in March and early April, and 

 ma)' be denominated the season of courtship. After the first ardent greeting 

 of the home folks, Robins gather in loose companies and keep to the seclusion 

 of tlie woods, following the sun from east to south and west, ransacking the 

 roots of trees and the edges of standing water for food, and, above all, 

 sketching in the matrimonial plans of the season. When Robins have become 

 common about the streets and yards of village and town, partners have usually 

 been selected, but there still remain for many of the cocks hard-contested 

 battles before peaceful possession is assured. These are not sham fights 

 either; a Robin will fight a hated ri\al, beak and claw, till lie is citlicr Ihoroly 

 winded or killed otit right. 



In late July and August Robins again forsake their familiar haunts, and 

 spend the moulting season i:i the woods, moving about like ghosts in great 

 straggling, silent companies. When the moult is completed, as autumn ad- 

 vances, they return in merry bevies to claim their share of the ripening 

 fruits — no longer begrudged now, for they prefer such harmless viands as 

 mountain-ash berries, and the insipid clusters of the madrone tree. 



Robins occasionally winter on the east side of the mountains; and they 

 are hard put to it unless they find a sufficient supply of ungathcred fruit, 

 preferably apples, left out to freeze or rot as the season dictates. West of 

 the mountains they winter irregularly but quite e.xtensively. There is noth- 

 ing in the climate to forbid their staying all the time but 1 am inclined to 

 think that their abundance in winter depends upon the berrv crop, and espec- 

 ially that of the ^ladrona (Arhutits lucnzicsii). The fall of 1907 was 

 notable in this regard. The trees were in splendid bearing, and a certain 

 patch c)n the bluff south of Fauntlerf)y Park was a gorgeous l)laze of red, to 

 which Robins resorted in hundreds. 



Under such circumstances the birds establish winter roosts in convenient 

 thickets, and repair to them at nightfall in great numbers. One such roost 

 has been maintained on the outskirts of Seattle, just east of Ravenna Park, 

 and in the winter of 1907-08 I estimated its population at some four thousand. 

 The winter, it will be remembered, was a mild one, and every one in Seattle 

 remarked the abundance of Rollins. 



In nesting, the Robin dis])lays little cautiun, its homely mud-walled cup 



