ROBIN 



it with water and instructed every one going there to see that it 

 was freshly filled. The table crumbs were scattered by it so 

 in a few days both birds drank and bathed there and came regu- 

 larly for food. They did like bread and milk and hard-boiled 

 egg. It was while they were bathing and feeding that I espe- 

 cially noticed the male. He was the biggest, brightest, most alert 

 and knowing-looking Robin I had ever seen, while I had been ac- 

 customed to them almost every summer of my life. Immediately 

 apples and fruit were added to his diet, suet and scraped beef- 

 steak, grubs spaded up in the garden and anything I thought him 

 likely to eat that was not salty. It was amazing the way that 

 bird grew, and he carried food to his mate until she was above 

 the average Robin's size. 



He not only developed in body, but he grew strong in every 

 way, for no other Robin could equal his vocal powers. His song 

 was the same old song of cheer, but there was a depth of volume, 

 a mellowness of note, a perfection of accent that surpassed other 

 performers of orchard and wood. He seemed to know it. He 

 would perch on a peach-tree near the plum and sing his opening 

 strain. Then he would pause as if considering it. Then he 

 would repeat it and rise a little louder, fall a shade deeper, and 

 cling to his notes until he came to the final, always abrupt. He 

 would think it over again, then begin anew and when he had re- 

 peated his strain five or six times he was in a frenzy of ecstasy 

 with his own performance, stretching to full height, his throat 

 swollen, his eyes gleaming, every muscle tense, so that in all bird- 

 land there was but a faint breath of harmony to surpass him. 

 When the rain fell, as if he knew it a blessing, a thing for which to 

 be thankful, with the drops dripping from his gray coat he lifted 

 his golden throat and sang and sang incomparably. 



In only a short time he learned that when the pump was used 

 the water would be fresh and cool; so when one started toward it 



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