THE FIRST ROBIN 209 . 
The First Robin. 
Great pleasure is always experienced by everyone at the 
announcement of the arrival of the first robin. Newspapers 
will print any reliable report of this bird’s appearance as being 
of general interest to their readers. To the average person 
the robin is the first of birds to return, and naturally its 
presence is hailed as one of the earliest signs of approaching 
spring. The arrival of the first robins usually occurs on one 
of the last days of winter, when the cold weather is relenting. 
While this is true, it does not necessarily follow that warm 
days will at once bring sunshine and cheer; for often after 
the robins have come there will be periods of inclement 
weather. In fact the robin seems to enjoy cold winds and 
rains, and will sing contentedly while gloom wraps earth 
and sky. 
Not all of the robins leave us in winter. Any diligent bird 
lover who goes out regularly in December and January will 
be likely to see at least one robin in his walks. The writer 
had this good fortune on December 3, 1922, and an acquaint- 
ance of his expressed surprise at finding a robin in January 
of the present year. In 1918, in mid-winter, during unusually 
cold weather, robins were seen almost daily for a month. The 
vigor of that season had probably driven all the robins which 
were wintering farther north to places where they could obtain 
food and water. The newspapers at that time had -frequent 
reports of wandering flocks of robins in the northern states. 
The robins that appear in the latter part of February are 
not winter residents, but are the vanguard of the mighty 
army of migrants which will soon spread over the northern 
states. The robin records obtained by the writer in February 
for eight years are as follows:—1911, Feb. 25; 1915, Feb. 13; 
LOEGS Febe 22° 1917;, Feb: -23 3 1919) Feb: 28> 1921, Feb, 27; 
1922, Feb. 21; 1923, Feb. 28. The average date for the 
month of February, from these records, is the 23rd. The 
condition of the weather in February of these years may be 
judged by the dates of arrival of the robin. When the month 
