AUTUMN BIRD LIFE 



Why the robin should sing when others are 

 silent, it were hard to say. I have tried to make 

 out for myself, and have inquired of others, but 

 without arriving at any very satisfactory explana- 

 tion. He is a soft-billed 



f 



bird, like those 

 that leave us 

 before the 





arrival of the 

 bad weather, and go 

 to sing elsewhere. 

 It may be that he 



migrated once, and sang all year round as they do, 

 but got too lazy for the long journey, and stayed 

 behind, trusting to pick up a precarious living 

 here. Only he kept up the practice of song, 



