Conspicuously Red of any Shade 



constitute their food in summer, the berries of evergreens in 

 winter. To a bird so gay of color, charming of voice, social, and 

 trustful of disposition, surely a few blossoms might be spared 

 without grudging. 



The American Robin 



(Merula migratoria) Thrush family 



Called also: RED-BREASTED OR MIGRATORY THRUSH; 



ROBIN -REDBREAST 



Length — lo inches. 



Male—liuW brownish olive-gray above. Head black ; tail brown- 

 ish black, with exterior feathers white at inner tip. Wings 

 dark brownish. Throat streaked with black and white. 

 White eyelids. Entire breast bright rusty red ; whitish below 

 the tail. 



Female— Y:)u\\qx and with paler breast, resembling the male in 

 autumn. 



Hange — North America, from Mexico to arctic regions. 



Migrations— yiarch. October or November. Often resident 

 throughout the year. 



It seems almost superfluous to write a line of description 

 about a bird that is as familiar as a chicken; yet how can this 

 nearest of our bird neighbors be passed without a reference? 

 Probably he was the very first bird we learned to call by name. 



The early English colonists, who had doubtless been brought 

 up, like the rest of us, on "The Babes in the Wood," named the 

 bird after the only heroes in that melancholy tale; but in reality 

 the American robin is a much larger bird than the English robin- 

 redbreast and less brilliantly colored. John Burroughs calls him, 

 of all our birds, "the most native and democratic." 



How the robin dominates birddom with his strong, aggres- 

 sive personality! His voice rings out strong and clear "n the 

 early morning chorus, and, more tenderly subdued at twilight, it 

 still rises above all the sleepy notes about him. Whether lightly 

 tripping over the lawn after the " early worm," or rising with his 

 sharp, quick cry of alarm, when startled, to his nest near by, 

 every motion is decided, alert, and free. No pensive hermit of 

 the woods, like his cousins, the thrushes, is this joyous, vigorous 

 " bird of the morning." Such a presence is inspiriting. 



225 



