158 ORNITHOLOGY AND OOLOGY. 



suffer in the same way." The services of the robins, in 

 destroying these alone, would more than pay for all the fruit 

 they devour. Indeed, during the breeding season, a robin is 

 seldom seen without having in his mouth one of these cater- 

 pillars, or some similar grub, which he designs for his young; 

 and as the Robin often raises three broods of young during 

 the season, his species must destroy more of this class of 

 noxious insects than almost all other birds together. In 

 my own gardening experiences, I have had my full share of 

 cutworms ; and I have always noticed the Robin, Brown 

 Thrush, and Cat-bird busy early in the morning, — almost 

 before. other birds are out of their feather-beds, figuratively 

 speaking, — catching these vermin and eating them, or 

 carrying them for food to their young. 



To show further the food of this bird, I present the follow- 

 ing experiment. At a meeting of the Boston Society of 

 Natural History, a communication was read from Professor 

 Treadwell, of Cambridge, giving a detailed account of the 

 feeding and growth of this bird during a period of thirty- 

 two days, commencing with the 5tli of June. The following 

 is the substance of this report : — 



When caught, the two were quite young, their tail feathers 

 being less than an inch in length, and the weight of each 

 about twenty-five pennyweights, — less than half the weight 

 of the full-grown birds : both were plump and vigorous, and 

 had evidently been very recently turned out of the nest. 

 He began feeding them with earthworms, giving three to 

 each bird that night. The second day, he gave them ten 

 worms each, which they ate ravenously. Thinking this 

 beyond what their parents could naturally supply them with, 

 he limited them to this allowance. On the third day, he gave 

 them eight worms each in the forenoon ; but in the afternoon 

 he found one becoming feeble, and it soon lost its strength, 

 refused food, and died. On opening it, he found the pro- 

 ventriculus, gizzard, and intestines entirely empty, and con- 

 cluded therefore that it died from want of sufficient food ; 



