THE THRUSHES AND THEIR ALLIES. 97 



earthworms near enough the surface to be within the reach 

 even of the long-billed snipes. But when the bird was near 

 enough I could distinctly see, by the form and appendages of 

 the creature, that it was invariably a cutworm of a large 

 species and of an olive-green color. The female bird was most 

 industrious. She would carry off one of these grubs as often 

 as once in five minutes, whenever I watched her movements, 

 and very often she would have two in her bill at a time. One 

 day close under my window, I saw her bear off three cut- 

 worms at once, all of which were taken before my sight in a 

 space about a rod square.' 1 



The robin appears to be one of the birds that thrives fully 

 as well under the conditions of modern agriculture as when 

 the soil was owned by the red man. A knowledge of its feed- 

 ing habits would lead one to expect this. In many localities 

 it is believed that these birds are now more numerous than 

 in earlier times. On the whole, there can be no doubt that it 

 is an eminently useful bird, but it is equally certain that too 

 often the fruit-grower alone has to pay heavily for services 

 rendered to the community at large. In concluding his dis- 

 cussion of an elaborate investigation of the food of adult 

 robins, Professor Forbes expresses his belief that the horti- 

 culturist cannot " sell his small fruits anywhere in the ordi- 

 nary markets of the world at so high a price as to the robin, 

 provided he uses proper diligence that the little huckster 

 (Joes not overreach him in the bargain." If this is true when 

 the food of the adult alone is considered, it is much more so 

 when the food of the nestlings is also taken into account. 

 Nevertheless, we believe the fruit-grower should be allowed 

 to protect his crops when necessary, doing so in such a way 

 as .to accomplish the greatest results with the least expen- 

 diture of robin life. But the indiscriminate destruction of 

 ihe birds for food, "sport," or millinery purposes should 

 he stopped, and the robbing of the nests should be properly 

 punished. 



7 



