THE ROBIN 17 



or four birds rushing pell-mell over the lawn and 

 fetching up in a tree or bush, or occasionally 

 upon the ground, all piping and screaming at 

 the top of their voices, but whether in mirth or 

 anger it is hard to tell. The nucleus of the train 

 is a female. One cannot see that the males in 

 pursuit of her are rivals ; it seems rather as if they 

 had united to hustle her out of the place. But 

 somehow the matches are no doubt made and 

 sealed during these mad rushes. Maybe the fe- 

 male shouts out to her suitors, " Who touches 

 me first wins," and away she scurries like an 

 arrow. The males shout out, " Agreed ! " and 

 away they go in pursuit, each trying to outdo the 

 other. The game is a brief one. Before one can 

 get the clew to it, the party has dispersed. 



The first year of my cabin life a pair of robins 

 attempted to build a nest upon the round timber 

 that forms the plate under my porch roof. But 

 it was a poor place to build in. It took nearly a 

 week's time and caused the birds a great waste 

 of labor to find this out. The coarse material 

 they brought for the foundation would not bed 

 well upon the rounded surface of the timber, and 

 every vagrant breeze that came along swept it 

 off. My porch was kept littered with twigs and 

 weed-stalks for days, till finally the birds aban- 



