DOMESTICATION OF OUR WILD BIRDS 339 



by their songs through years of childhood, robins are 

 necessaries of life. No summer is complete without a 

 pair of these rollicking birds nesting about the house. 



FIG. 134. ROBIN'S NEST IN THE CHERRY TREE 

 (Photograph by the author, 1901) 



But how to induce a pair of wild robins to do this is a 

 problem fascinating but as yet almost wholly unsolved. 



In very dry weather, or where mud is not easily 

 obtained, it is a good plan to keep a pan of mud on the 

 post with the birds' watering dish. Mrs. Treat has 



