288 THE GREAT NORTH-WEST 



Providence, Philadelphia, &c., as well as in many smaller 

 places, they are often exposed for sale as food, the price 

 being a dollar for two or three dozen, according to their 

 abundance. Like many other small birds they are deli- 

 cious eating. 



The robin is much given to squabbling with its com- 

 panions, and attacks other small birds, in this respect 

 again resembling the English redbreast, which is a fierce 

 little tyrant. " AVho killed cock-robin ?" says the nursery 

 rhyme. It should be Who killed cock-sparrow ? for I 

 have actually seen a redbreast slay a sparrow. I do not 

 know that the American robin is equally fierce, but it 

 will not permit other small birds to feed near it. 



The robin is gregarious, to some extent at least. 

 Where you find one, you may be certain there are others 

 close at hand. It is rare to see single birds ; occasionally 

 six or eight go together ; but when the breeding season 

 is over, you will find them often in flocks of eighty or a 

 hundred, and, more rarely, perhaps two or three hundred 

 will be seen together. It is when they are in flocks that 

 they fall victims to the netter. 



The robin is one of the few birds which seem to prey 

 on the kitty-dads or grasshoppers, though cuckoos and 

 mocking-birds do so also where they are found. Before 

 swallowing the grasshoppers all these birds nip off" the 

 legs and wings of the victim. The robins also devour all 

 sorts of insects, and are as fond of snails and slugs as the 

 European thrush. They, however, are still more fond of 

 fruits, and they may, like fieldfares, be shot down in great 

 numbers by a gunner concealed near any fruit or berry- 

 bearing tree. The fruits I have most frequently seen 

 them devouring, in flocks or parties, were the black- 

 cherry, Ccrasus nigra ; sand-cherry, C. depressa ; elder- 

 berry, SambiLcus canadensis; gum-berry, Nyssa sylvatica ; 

 and a bright scarlet berry resembling a hawthorn-berry, 

 the specific name of which I have failed to learn ; also 

 blackberries and wild raspberries, and all sorts of culti- 

 vated fruits. They even peck the apples and pears, and 



