ROBIN. 87 



how many prowlers are on the look out for Btich tempting tid-bits 

 as unfledged sparrows. So y(m must look for his nest in some old 

 meadow or grassy pasture land, possibly you may find it in an orchard 

 amid the long grass, or in the city park, or even by the country 

 roadside. You will find it well hidden in a tuft of grass or under cover 

 of a mossy stump, and when found it will be but another edition of 

 an old story, the same loosely constructed cup of vegetable fibres 

 that all the sparrows build. Junco is somewhat more particular than 

 others of his clan about the lining of his home, and generally 

 supplies feathers for that purpose, though I have found hair and fur 

 made use of when they were more convenient. 



His song is so much like the trilled whistle of the chipping sparrow 

 that you may not be able to distinguish them without some effort, 

 but you will soon learn that they do differ. 



In costume our bird is not at all sparrow-like. His upper parts 

 and neck and breast are dark slate or blackish ash in color, and his 

 belly is white. His bill and outer tail-feathers are white also. 

 In winter the ash color becomes grayish, and sometimes bears 

 a brownish tinge, and in this plumage the male is very like the 

 female and young. You will recognize the bird by this description, 

 and understand that an old friend is hidden under this new 

 name. The bird that the modern authorities have re-named slate- 

 colored junco is none other than the snowbird — the " black snow- 

 bird," or ** white-billed snowbird," as the bird is often called. 



ROBIN. 



** American robin " this species has been named, to distinguish it 

 from robin of England. These two birds belong to different families, 

 for while the old country robin is a warbler its American namesake 

 is a member of the thrush family. *' Migratory thrush " our friend 

 has been named by some writers, and for scientific use he has been 

 labelled turdtis migratorivA and mervla migratoria. 



Just why our robin was singled out as the migratory thrush is not 

 clear, for of all the American thrushes the robin is the least inclined 

 to excess in that particular habit. As a matter of fact the bird is 



