14 
The American Robin in England. 
P. G. Howes. 
In the early part of 1908, at just ' 
what time I cannot say, a dozen Ameri- 
can Robins were taken to England and 
kept in a large aviary in a country 
garden. When breeding time came, 
the birds nested readily in the aviary 
but as as congregation is not congen- 
ial with the family Turdidae, many of 
the clutches were broken and none 
were likely to be hatched. When this 
was discovered, the remaining eggs 
were carefully removed and deposited 
in the nests of various English birds 
of the Thrush family. The experiment 
worked wonderfully, and at the end of 
the summer, the dozen American birds 
were greatly increased in numbers. 
So far, so good. The English sum- 
mer as breathed in the shade of a 
beautiful garden proved thoroughly 
sympathetic with the robins. They 
fed and bred and flourished without 
disturbance from their neighbors or 
surroundings. If they remain, the rob- 
ins will be a real addition to England 
and the British will look upon them 
with even more pleasure than ‘they 
mark the coming of the first gentle 
green of their alien tree, the larch. 
The pleasing fact is now to be 
chronicled that up to December 10th, 
1908, they have remained. One mi- 
grating period is over. Many Black- 
birds (Tundus merula) and thrushes 
have migrated to France and flocks 
of other birds have launched them- 
Selvs from the shores of Kent south- 
wards and eastwards. With almost 
all birds, congregation precedes mi- 
gration. The safety of numbers arms 
them against the peril of the long 
journey. “The storm of wings”. The 
‘American birds however have not con- 
gregated, and they still remain in the 
garden in twos and threes as if wait- 
ing for another summer in this new 
THE OOLOGIST 
nesting haunt, a place of quiet and 
beauty. 
There is a certain English thrush 
“called the Field-fare (Turdus pilaris), 
and it is thought by English orni- 
thologists that the robins may migrate 
with their cousins in the Spring. I 
do not believe this, for the strongest 
instincts drive the birds at nesting 
time to the nesting home of their 
parents. The rigour of the English 
winter is another danger but having 
seen these birds pass through all kinds 
of weather in America I am confident 
that the English winters will not af- 
fect the success of the experiment. It 
is a strong likelihood that the Ameri- 
can robin has now been naturalized 
into England. 
It was published in an English news- 
paper not long ago, that as a return 
experiment, a number of Wood Pig- 
eons (Columba palumbus), a very com- 
mon bird in France and England, 
would soon be sent to America. The 
Wood Pigeons are shot by the thous- 
ands in England around Christmas 
time. It is a favorite sport of the farm- 
ers to shoot the birds from “caches” 
within reach of the ground, well baited 
during the previous week. By the latter 
part of December, as a rule, a great 
horde of the Pigeons have migrated 
from Scandinavia to the midland 
counties, and in some years, three or 
four farmers will kill as many as three 
hundred in a day. It is truly like the 
old days of the Passenger Pigeon in 
America. 
Such slaughter is an outrage and dis- 
gusting to all the better nature of 
mankind.—Hditor. 
a gt 
From Isle of Pines. 
Some Fall Migration Notes made on 
the Isle of Pines, Cuba, 1909. 
Aug. 20, First Water-thrushes of the 
season (3-4). 
