170 CANARIES AND CAGE-BIRDS. 



THE AMERICAN ROBIN. 



THE respect which is entertained by everybody for the beloved Robin extends 

 to no other bird known. The pilfering boys, who make a specialty of robbing 

 birds' nests, have sufficient regard for the egg of the Robin to pass it by without 

 molesting it. This universal regard for him has been handed down from generation 

 to generation, and he is probably the one exception in the bird family for which the 

 farmer cherishes any friendly feeling. His raids upon the insects and bugs which 

 infest the orchards, and destroy the fruit-trees, make him a valuable ally to the 

 fruit-growers and agriculturists. He is so familiar to everybody, that a description 

 of him seems hardly necessary. He is nine inches in length ; the bill is strong, and 

 of a deep yellow color, sometimes black or dusky near the tip ; the upper parts of 

 the body are dark olive gray, becoming black on the head, and blackish on the tail : 

 the under parts of the body to the vent, in adult birds, are a beautiful shade of 

 chestnut ; in the younger birds, the chestnut color is paler, or variegated with white 

 or gray ; the throat is streaked with white and black ; and the under tail-feathers are 

 white, mixed with gray. The wing-feathers are dusky brown, mixed with ash, 

 which is the color of the back. Feet blackish, the soles yellowish. The eyes are 

 dark brown. Very young birds are speckled above and below, each feather being 

 spotted. The females are more ash-colored, and the black parts are of a dusky 

 tinge. The Robin is a summer resident, and may be found in abundance every- 

 where. His cheery song is heard as early as March ; and he remains in our North- 

 ern clime until the middle of November, and individuals may be found at times 

 throughout the winter. They breed in immense numbers, while their comparative 

 immunity from harm certainly helps to increase the race. Their nests may be 

 found anywhere, the favorite situations being in trees, and in the orchards ; 

 though they are sometimes placed under the eaves of the houses, and may be even 

 found in bushes, or on the ground. The nest is a bulky structure, mostly composed 

 of mud, and lined with fine vegetable fibre. The eggs are four or five in number, 

 plain greenish blue, and occasionally speckled. Two or three broods are reared in 

 & season : the first eggs are laid in April. The enormous amount of insect-food 

 devoured by young Robins is of incalculable benefit to the crops. 



As a songster, the Robin has few superiors among our native birds ; but he is so 

 common, that the idea of caging him is rarely thought of. If he were a foreign bird, 

 and had to be imported to the country, he would undoubtedly take a foremost place 

 in the list of caged songsters ; but it is too often the case, that superior home attrac- 

 tions have no rank when placed alongside of inferior imported ones. 



Here is our dear Robin Redbreast, and no one wants him at any price. Puff 



