THE MASTERS OF MELODY. 85 



to that pitiful spectacle, a woman who wears a bird's 

 skin on her hat, the culpable accessory of that vile 

 creature, a bird-murderer. 



The robin, because it is not methodically migra- 

 tory, but comes and goes all winter and is here at 

 other times, is perhaps the best known of all our 

 birds. The name is so prominent in children's sto- 



Robin. 



ries, in folk-lore, in poetry, and in general litera- 

 ture, that even town children who have never seen 

 the bird know it by name ; but to many grown 

 people, even those who have lived all their lives in 

 the country, the robin is not familiar as a winter bird. 

 It is known to come and go, it is true, but is supposed 

 to be merely in transit, and just where the observer 

 happens to be is not its abiding-place. This impres- 

 sion is due to lack of observation, for the birds are 

 as well disposed towards your thicket and cedar-trees 



8 



