ROBIN REDBREAST 37 



The male has no employment while his mate is sitting 

 except to gather food, preen his feathers, and indulge in 

 such singing as his joyous heart may dictate. However, 

 when the baby robins have broken their blue prison cells 

 his work begins. Then there is less time for preening, and 

 singing must be given up almost entirely. From morning 

 until night both parents are obliged to toil constantly to 

 feed the hungry nestlings. 



Many of the worms and insects which robins eat are 

 harmful to growing grain and fruit. So it comes about 

 that these birds perform no small part in keeping down 

 the number of such pests. Each day a young robin re- 

 quires more than its own weight of this kind of food. 

 Think what good a family of them must do in a garden in 

 summer ! 



The nest is usually built in a bush or tree near the abode 

 of man, although at times it may be found to occupy a 

 suitable place far from any house, even deep in the woods. 

 Shade trees in lawns, or fruit trees in gardens, are favorite 

 sites. 



Last spring a pair of robins built their nest on the bough 

 of a balsam standing beside a much used walk on our 

 college campus. In gathering the timbers for the home the 

 greatest care was always exercised to work at those hours 

 of the day when there was the least chance of being ob- 



