26 NORTH AMEHICAX IJIRDS. 



Ill juitnniii and winter each rufous feather beneath is hordered by a more 

 or U^ss eoiispiciious crescent of white ; in addition to this, most of the lighter 

 individuals ( 9 0' *^^ ^'^'"^ season, have an ashy sutfusion over the breast and 

 flanks ; and tliis, we liave observed, is more general and more noticealile in 

 western than in eastern specimens. In tall and winter the color of the bill, 

 too, changes, l)ecomiiig at this season either partially or wholly dusky, instead 

 of almost entirely yellow, as seen in sjuiiig and summer examples. 



Mexican specimens, found breeding in the Al[)iiie regions as far scutli 

 as Orizal)a and ^lirador, most resemble the western series ; one, however 

 (Xo. 38,1 20 (J, Orizaba), 1) .t in the autumnal plumage, and therefore 

 very possibly a migrant from the North, is hardly distinguishable from 

 No. 32,20(), (leorgia; it is about identical in proporti(Uis, and tlie rufous is 

 of a castaneous sliade, like the deepest colored eastern examples ; the white 

 tip to the outer tail-feather is as broad and conspicuous as is ever seen in 

 the latter. 



Habits. Scarcely any American bird has a wider range of geographical 

 distribution, or is more numerous wherever found, than this thrush. From 

 Greenland on the extreme iiorthea.st to the plateau of Mexico, and from 

 the Atlantic to the Pacific, the Iiobin is everywhere a ver^^ abundant species. 

 Single specimens have been obtained as far south as Cobaii, Guatemala. Its 

 distribution in the breeding season is liardlv less restricted, occurring alike 

 on tlie shores of the Arctic Seas and on the liigh lands of Vera Cruz. 

 Ill the winter months it is most abundant in the Southern States, while 

 in the Middle and even the Northern States, in favorable h>calities, it 

 may be found throughout the year ; its mignitions being influenced more 

 by the question of food than of climate. In the valleys ' long the White 

 Mountains, where snow covers the ground from October to June, an<l where 

 the cold reaches the freezing-point of merer 'ks of the Ilobin remain 



during the entire winter, attracted by the al>uii»> ue of berries. 



On the Pacific Coast the Pobin is only a winter visitant in California ; a 

 very few remaining to breed, and tliose only among the hills. They reach 

 Vancouver Island early in ^larch, and are very abundant. 



In New Phiglaiid, where the liobins are held in great esteem, and where 

 tliey exist under very favorable circumstances, tlieir numbers have very 

 laigely increased, especially in the villages. They cause not a little annoy- 

 ance to fruit cultivators by their depredations upon the lu-oductions of the 

 garden, especially cherricvS and strawberries. They are a voracious bii-d, and 

 no doubt destroy a large quantity of small fruit, but there is abundant evi- 

 dence that this is more than compensated ])y their destruction of the most 

 injurious insects, upon wliicli they wage an incessant war. Tlie investiga- 

 tions of Mr. J. W. P. Jenks and Professor Tread well establish conclusivelv 

 their great services in this direction. 



Tlie ex])eriments of the latter gentleman show that the nestlings of the 

 Robin require a vast amount of animal food, forty j)er cent more than their 



