THE ROBIN. 7 



dried grass. This is the typical nest, but of course, 

 there are marked variations from it. Usually it 

 is firmly fixed in the crotch of a branch or close 

 to the body of the tree where its weight can be 

 supported. 



But who does not know instances of oddly 

 placed nests outside of trees ? The " American 

 Naturalist" records one "on the top of a long 

 pole, which stood without support in an open barn- 

 yard," and Audubon notes one within a few feet 

 of a blacksmith's anvil. A number of interesting 

 sites have come within my notice. Among them 

 are : the top of a blind ; an eave trough ; a shingle 

 that projected over the inner edge of an open shed ; 

 and, most singular of all, one inside a milk-house, 

 set precariously on the rim of a barrel that lay on 

 its side, just above the heads of the men who not 

 only appeared both night and morning with alarm- 

 ingly big milk pails, but made din enough in ply- 

 ing a rattling creaky pump handle to have sent 

 any ordinary bird bolting through the window. 



Robins usually nest comparatively high, though 

 Audubon tells of a nest found on a bare rock on 

 the ground, and this summer I found one in the 

 crotch of a small tree only two and a half feet 

 from the earth. It was near a hen yard, so per- 

 haps Madam Robin was following the fashion by 

 laying her eggs near the ground. In any case, 

 she was on visiting terms with the hen-roost, for, 

 singularly enough, there were feathers plastered 



