An Albino Robin Tragedy 9 
father bird, and from this time on his presence was made known by loud cries 
of alarm. He was neither so conspicuous nor s0 solicitous as his mate, and, con- 
sequently, had heretofore escaped notice. He was not an albino, but was dressed 
in the usual clothes of the Robin. 
It is a question as to who was more interested in those young birds, the 
parents or myself. Each new feather was anxiously examined with the hope 
of finding a tinge of white inherited from the mother. They persisted in being 
common everyday young Robins, and were still as others of their tribe when a 
tragedy occurred. 
The night of June 4 was windy and rainy, such a night as generally places 
frail bird nests in great danger. Fears were expressed for the safety of the young 
Robins, and these proved to be only too well founded, for next day the nest pre- 
sented a pitiful spectacle. The young had evidently been left unprotected through 
all that terrible night. They had cuddled up to one another as closely as possible, 
but were helpless without their mother’s warm feathers to shield them from the 
cold and pelting rain. There, in the swaying tree top, the three deserted young 
birds perished. The question arose as to why their parents should have left them 
to the mercies of the storm. Two days later the reason for their apparent deser- 
tion was discovered. The birds? greatest enemy, the cat, had succeeded in catch- 
ing the albino Robin, and her half-eaten body was found in a neighboring yard 
where it had been left by the feline destroyer. 
WHAT THE CAT LEFT 
