THE CANADIAN HORTICULTURIST. 



and cherries are ripening, the robin is of the 

 greatest possible value to the country. 

 From early March until the middle of June 

 robins' food consists of insects and such ber- 

 ries as may hang on the trees through the 

 winter. Three specimens shot by me on 

 April 3 last year had each eaten 150 to 200 

 small dark caterpillars. One shot April 1 1 

 contained one large spider, a large number 

 of small beetles, principally weevils, and 

 some mountain ash berries. In ]\Iay and 

 the early part of June I have always found 

 the robins' food to consist chiefly of cut 

 w^orms, wire worms, white grubs and earth 

 worms ; at this time the birds are feeding 

 their young and they then destroy a vast 

 number of. these injurious farm pests. This 

 is one of the robin's greatest merits, because 

 of all our insects the underground cut worm 

 is about the most destructive, for in feeding 

 it just comes above the surface and cuts off 

 the entire plant, or if the plants are very 

 young and the stems small it cuts off a half 

 dozen or more, only eating a small section 

 out of the stem of each, leaving the plants 

 dead on the ground. 



Effectual remedies against their attacks 

 are very difficult, and in some cases impos- 

 sible, to apply, so that for the most part we 

 are compelled to rely on the ground feed- 

 ing birds, of which the robin is an example, 

 to keep them in check. 



In June, 1889, I experiiuented with a 

 young robin shortly after it was able to feed 

 itself, for the purpose of ascertaining just 

 what amount of insect food it would re- 

 cjuire daily when at that stage of growth. 

 On June 9 the bird weighed exactly three 

 ounces. From time to time during that 

 day I gave it all the cut worms it would eat, 

 having previously weighed them. The 

 grubs averaged 30 to the ounce, and the bird 

 ate five and a half ounces of them in that 

 one day. Had the bird been at libertv it 

 would probably have eaten some insects of 

 other species and fewer cut worms, but this 



shows the amount of insect food required 

 by a young robin when growing. The 

 average number of young in a brood is four, 

 and there are usually two broods in a sea- 

 son. A very simple calculation will give 

 a good idea of the number of insects de- 

 stroyed while the young are being raised.* 

 It is the young of the first brood after they 

 have flown and are left to their own re- 

 sources which are apt to visit the strawberry 

 patch and cherry trees, and it is no doubt 

 very provoking to the fruit grower on a 

 small scale, to find them helping themselves 

 to his scanty supply. Towards the end of 

 summer and through the autumn young and 

 old congregate in flocks and feed on insects 

 and various berries borne by wild shrubs. 

 Late in the fall they will sometimes visit the 

 vineyard, but not as a rule until after the 

 marketable grapes have been gathered. 



EXTENSIVE IXVESTIGATIONS. 



The biological survey of the Department 

 of Agriculture at Washington has con- 

 ducted an exhaustive enquiry into the food 

 habits of the robin. The result of this has 

 been summarized by Prof. F. E. Beal, of 

 that department, who says : " An exami- 

 nation of the stomachs of 330 robins, col- 

 lected in various parts of the country, shows 

 that cultivated fruit forms but a very mode- 

 rate percentage (less than eight per cent.) 

 of their diet, and that practically all of this 

 is eaten in June and July. \^egetable food 

 forms nearly 58 per cent, of the stomach 

 contents, over 47 per cent, being wild fruits. 

 Cultivated fruit amounting to about 25 per 

 cent, was found in the stomachs in June and 

 July, but only a trifle in August. \\'ild 

 fruit, on the contrary, is eaten in every 

 month, and constitutes a staple food during 

 half the year. Xo less than 41 species of 

 wild fruit were identified in the stomachs. 



The depredations of the robin seem to be 

 confined to the smaller and earlier fruits, 



* Birds of Ontario in Relation to Agriculture. C. W. Xa^h, 

 Department of Agriculture, Toronto, Ont. 



