AMERICAN ROBIN. 411 



very young birds spotted above and below. Length, 9^ inches ; wing, 5| ; 

 tail, 4. 



HAB. Eastern North America to the Rocky Mountains, including Eastern 

 Mexico and Alaska. Breeds from near the southern border of the United 

 States northward to the Arctic coast ; winters from Southern Canada and the 

 Northern States (irregularly) southward. 



Nest, in a tree, frequently an apple tree in an orchard; large and rough 

 looking, composed of twigs, grass and weeds cemented together with mud, 

 lined with fine grass. 



Eggs, four or five, plain greenish-blue, without spots. 



The Robin is well known and widely distributed throughout 

 Ontario. In the south it is most abundant during the period of 

 migration, but great numbers breed all over the Province, and along 

 the southern border it is no uncommon thing to meet with indi- 

 viduals spending the winter in sheltered hollows, from which they 

 are ready to start out and hail the first indications of returning 

 spring. As the season advances, northern-bound individuals of this 

 species arrive from the south and pass on with little delay, but 

 those which are satisfied to remain at once become engaged in the 

 great business of the season, that of raising their young. The males 

 are the first to arrive, and are occasionally heard rehearsing their 

 summer song, evidently somewhat out of practice. In a few days 

 the females make their appearance and receive every attention. 



The site for the nest is soon selected, and both birds work dili- 

 gently till the structure is completed. The first set of eggs is laid 

 in April, and during the tedious days of incubation the male often 

 mounts his perch to cheer his faithful mate with what to her may 

 seem delightful strains of music. To human ears the song does not 

 rank as a brilliant performance, but it is given with great earnest- 

 ness and liberality, and is welcomed as the prelude to the grand 

 concert of bird music which is soon to be heard in the woods and 

 fields all over the country. At this season the food of the Robin 

 consists chiefly of worms and various insects. It is a fine exhibition 

 of bird-life to see him, early in the dewy morning, hop daintily over 

 the newly cut grass to where an earth worm is exposing himself near 

 the surface. With his head on one side, the bird watches every 

 wriggle of the worm with intense interest. If it is well out of the 

 ground, it is seized, and with a jerk thrown clear of its hole, but if 

 only a part of the worm is exposed, the course is different. It is 

 then caught quickly and held firmly while it struggles hard to get 

 into its hole. Robin knows that now a sudden jerk will part the 

 animal and give him only a portion, but he knows how much strain 



