OF NEW ENGLAND. 48 



ferring to remain in open lands, in the neighborhood of man, 

 and about cultivated estates, and are so little wild as to inhabit 

 Boston Common and other equally frequented places. In the 

 country, the}'' pass the summer in villages and such other 

 haunts as I have described, gathering into flocks in the latter 

 part of August, and journe3 r ing to warmer climates in Septem- 

 ber or October. Robins are in some parts of the State so 

 plentiful, that in May sixty of their nests, containing eggs, 

 were found in an area of fifteen acres. Had Massachusetts 

 then been populated by these thrushes in that proportion of 

 parent-birds to an acre, it would have contained nearly 40,- 

 000,000 of them, whereas I suppose that it actually contained 

 less than 1,000,000. 



To those who consider Robins either useless or injurious to 

 man the following remarks on the nature of their food may be 

 of interest. In winter and in the early part of spring, they 

 feed chiefly upon berries, such as those of the barberry, poison- 

 ous "ivy," etc., but as soon as the frost is expelled from the 

 ground, they begin their attacks upon the earthworms, and con- 

 stantly renew them throughout the summer and in September, 

 wherever earthworms are abundant. One may often see Robins 

 gathered on a lawn, particularly after hard showers, eagerly 

 engaged in unearthing their prey, now running along so quickly 

 that it is almost impossible to detect the motion of their feet 

 (which, in fact, is not hopping, but walking), now stopping, 

 and, having cocked their heads to one side that their ears may 

 be near the ground, listening intently, then passing on, or 

 perhaps stopping, and with two or three vigorous strokes of 

 their bills, pulling out the worms, which are soon disposed of. 

 When they fail to secure their prey, after a few bold " digs," 

 they generally move on and do not make any further attempt 

 to obtain it. They make extensive raids upon cherries " and 

 strawberries," when ripe, and feed upon ripe pears and apples, 

 especially in autumn, generally meddling with these latter fruits 

 when fallen to the ground, and not when on the trees. In re- 

 turn for these robberies, they destroy innumerable " cut-worms " 

 and other injurious creatures of the same kind, and confer, in 



