ROBIN 



ROBIN HOOD 



in this horrible condition he was brought bo- 

 fore the Convention. Unable to defend him- 

 self, he was sentenced to the guillotine and was 

 executed the next day, July 28, 1794. 



His private life was ch an, and his manners and 

 tastes those of a gentleman. He was by nature 

 a dreamer and an idealist, and only his oratory 

 gained him his position as an executive. C.H.H. 



Consult Warwick's Robespierre and the French 

 Revolution: Belloc's Robespierre. A great novel 

 dealing with the Revolution is Dickens' Talc of 

 Two Cities. 



lU'latrd subject*. The following articles in 

 these volumes will make clear certain references 

 in this sketch of Robespierre: 

 Commune of Paris Jacobins 



Danton, Georges Jacques Louis XVI 

 French Revolution Mirabeau, Count de 



Girondists States-General 



Guillotine Tuileries 



ROB 'IN, a North American songster of the 

 thrush family, called by John Burroughs "the 

 most native and democratic" of American birds. 

 The robins are so sociable and are seen in such 

 numbers around our dwellings that they have 



Each morning, when my waking eyes first see, 

 Through the wreathed lattice, golden day appear, 

 There sits a robin on the old elm tree, 

 And with such stirring music fills my ear, 

 I might forget that life had pain or fear, 

 And feel again as I was wont to do, 

 When hope was young, and life itself were new. 

 WELLS : The Old Elm Tree. 



never attained the reputation enjoyed by some 

 of the more secluded birds of the woodlands. 

 Yet, as one authority has said, "Let the robin 

 hide in distant forests and reveal himself to a 

 lucky few only, and there would be no bird that 

 could excel his beauty, dignity or song." Rob- 

 ins are rather large birds, measuring about ten 

 inches from beak to tail. Their plumage is 

 attractive, the orange-red breast contrasting 



prettily with the olive-gray upper parts, brown- 

 ish wings and black head. White markings are 

 found on the throat and tips of tail feathers 

 and below the tail. Except in the autumn. 

 when male and female are much alike, the 

 coloration of the female is duller than that of 

 her mate. 



These birds have a wide range, for they breed 

 from Mexico to Alaska, and their winter mi- 

 grations take them south to Guatemala. They 

 are among the first birds to come back from 

 the south, a fact which has given rise to the 

 familiar sayings "The robin has come and 

 spring is here;" "Good luck to see him first on 

 highest branch." While the birds are mating 

 they fill the air in the morning and evening 

 with joyous, ringing notes, which sound much 

 like cheerily, cheerily, cheerily. Male and fe- 

 male labor together in building the nest, and a 

 pair often returns to the same spot year after 

 year. A favorite site is a crotch on a horizontal 

 branch or a ledge about a barn or house. The 

 nest is fashioned into a cup-shaped mold of 

 straw, rags and paper, cemented with mud. 

 Both birds share in the work of hatching the 

 three to five blue eggs. 



Robins are voracious eaters, and over half of 

 their food consists of fruit. As they like wild 

 berries better than the fruits of garden or 

 orchard, the cultivated cherries and berries may 

 be protected by the planting of wild shrubs 

 near by. Their food includes also large numbers 

 of insects and worms, and for this reason they 

 are an aid to the farmer. Robins are protected 

 from indiscriminate slaughter both in the 

 United States and Canada (see BIRD, subtitle 

 Government Protection of Birds). 



The European robin, also called redbreast, is 

 a smaller bird than the American, and of more 

 brilliant plumage. It belongs to the warbler 

 family. According to an old English legend, 

 this "pious bird with the scarlet breast" merci- 

 fully picked a thorn from the crown of Chris! 

 as He was on His way to Calvary, and as the 

 bird carried it in its beak, the blood dropped 

 from the piercing point to its breast, dyeing it 

 red. B.M.W. 



Consult Lange's Our Native Jiirds; Deals' 

 "Some Common Birds in Their Relation to Agri- 

 culture," in Farmers' Bulletin No. 5}, United 

 States Department of Agriculture. 



ROBIN HOOD, a very popular hero of Eng- 

 lish legend. The old ballads describe him as an 

 outlaw, living with his yeomen in Sherwood 

 forest, in Nottinghamshire. He was the most 

 virtuous and gentlemanly of outlaws, for he 



