The Robin 207 
noxious insects by this bird. The prejudice which 
some persons entertain against the robin is unreason- 
able; the wholesale slaughter of the birds which 
annually takes place in many localities is as senseless 
as it is cruel. Few persons have any adequate idea 
of the enormous, the literally incalculable, number of 
insects that robins eat every year. It has been found, 
by careful and accurate observations, that a young 
robin, in the nest, requires a daily supply of animal 
food equivalent to considerably more than its own 
weight. When we remember that some millions of 
pairs of robins raise four or six young ones once, 
twice, or even three times a year, it will be seen that 
" “the resulting destruction in insects is, as I have said, 
incalculable. I have no doubt that the services of 
these birds, during the time they are engaged in 
rearing their young alone, would entitle them to 
protection were the parents themselves to feed exclu- 
sively upon garden fruit for the whole period. But 
at this time the diet of the old birds is very largely of 
an animal nature; nor is this the only season during 
which the destruction of insects goes on. Upon the 
first arrival of the main body of birds, early in spring, 
long before any fruits are ripe, they throw themselves 
into the newly ploughed fields, and scatter over 
meadows, lawns, and parks, in eager search for the 
