The Robin 209 
larvee of crane flies (Tipulide), which are sometimes known as leather-jackets. 
The larvz feed on the roots of grasses, including grain crops and other plants, 
and are sometimes quite injurious. Each of the three birds had eaten one or 
more specimens of a leaf beetle (Myochrous denticollis), a plant feeder, and in- 
jurious. On a basis of the eighteen stomachs I have examined this month, I 
consider the Robin to be essentially an insectivorous bird in Louisiana in Feb- 
ruary. I notice that great numbers of the Robins feed in open grassy fields, 
where their diet must consist largely of animal matter, as the birds do not eat 
weed seeds. They are shot here from morning to night; shots are heard in 
every direction. Each hunter kills from twenty-five to fifty per day.”’ 
The National Association of Audubon Societies has been 
working to secure the passage of laws better calculated to. pro- 
tect the Robin, and its efforts are being greatly strengthened by 
the financial aid rendered by Mrs. Russell Sage. We believe that in every state 
of the Union this bird should be placed on the list of protected species, and never 
allowed to be killed as game. We hold further that, for the enforcement of 
these and other bird and game laws, every state should establish an efficient non- 
political game commission, and a warden force supplied with sufficient funds 
to do its work effectively. It is simply a crime for any Commonwealth to 
permit the indiscriminate killing of valuable insect-eating birds to continue 
in this age of enlightenment. 
Largely as a result of the effects of the Audubon workers, only a few states 
are left wherein the Robin is not protected. These are as follows: 
Robin 
Protection 
FLorma.—Robins may be killed at any time. 
LourstanaA.—May be killed from November 15 to March 15. 
Maryranp.—May be killed in Calvert County at any time. 
May be killed in Harford County from November x to December 2. 
May be killed in Prince George County from November 1 to April 2. 
May be killed in Queene Ann County from October 1 to March tr. 
Miussissippr.——May be killed from September 1 to March 1. 
Norra Carorina.—May be killed from November r to March 1. (Seasons slightly 
different in certain counties.) 
TENNESSEE.— May be killed from October 1 to April 15. 
ViRGINIA.—May be killed from February 15 to April 1. 
The Robin (Planesticus migratorius) belongs to the Thrush 
Sees carion family (Turdide). It ranges throughout North America from 
Description the southern end of the Mexican tableland northward to 
the limit of trees in Labrador and Alaska. In this great area 
it is represented by three geographical races: the Eastern Robin (Planesticus 
migratorius migratorius), the male of which is shown in the accompanying 
plate; the Western Robin (P. M. propinqua), which is like the Eastern bird, 
but has little or no white in the tail and no black markings on the back; and 
the Southern Robin (P. M. achrusterus), which, in the mountains, breed as 
far south as Northern Georgia, and issmaller and paler than the northern bird. 
