^52 



Bird - Lore 



Robin and Snake 



On page ^^04 of your issue of Novoinbcr- 

 Doccmbcr, ioji, appears a letter froiu Rear 

 Admiral W. A. IMarshall, (retired) of James- 

 town, R. I., describing the actions of a Robin 

 with a snake. 



Some years ago my wife anil 1 were having 

 a picnic supper in the woods near town when 

 we noticed a Robin a short distance down the 

 path acting in an unusual manner. We went 

 closer to see what it was doing and found 

 that it hail a young garter snake about 13 

 or 14 inches long, at which it was pecking 

 \igoroush-. The snake was not dead but it 

 had been so roughly handled that it was 

 quite sluggish and was onl\- able to make 

 feeble etTorts to get away. 



The Robin seemed to be trying to pick 

 up the snake and was so intent upon its job 

 that it paid no attention to us, although we 

 stood for a long time within 15 feet of it. 

 l'"inall\-, after repeated etTorts, it managed to 

 get a good hoUl on the snake and llcw olT 

 with it for a distance of about 75 feet to a 

 post on which was seated one of its j-oung 

 Robins, and endeavored to feed the snake to 

 it. Of course, the baby was unable to handle 

 the snake anil it was dropped in the long 

 grass. The old Robin immediately dropped 

 down too and recommenced its etTorts to 

 pick it up. We drew too close and frightened 

 the Noung bird so that it tlcw to a nearb>- 

 tree, where, after about ten minutes' work, 

 tlie old bird, liaving again secured a thin 

 hold on the snake, tlew and once more tried 

 to get its hab\' to swallow what it seemed to 

 think was a tine large meal. The snake was 

 once more dropped and this time the Robin 

 tlew away and evidently gave it up. 



I have described this experience to a 

 number of bird observers and none of them 

 has ever seen anything similar. In coi\- 

 nection with tlie experience of Rear Admiral 

 IMarsliall it may {trove of interest to your 

 readers. — I-^r.^nkun (.'.ray McIntosh, 

 Franklin, P^i- 



Bluebird History 



For many years we ha\e had several bird- 

 houses out, and with the exception of one 

 year, Bluebirds have alwa>s appropriated 



one. They have had a few hard experiences, 

 once being robbed of their eggs. Always, and 

 especially since that time, they have been 

 very jealous of the presence of an}' kind of 

 bird that uses a hole or box for nesting. 

 Thej' do not allow Downy Woodpeckers, 

 Sapsuckers, or other Bluebirds in their tree, 

 and they have persistentlj' driven Wrens 

 and Tree Swallows away from a house on a 

 pole, which stands 4 to 5 rods from their tree, 

 and in sight from it. 



One year, after raising one brood in their 

 apple tree as usual, they seemed very un- 

 ilecided whether to use it for the second 

 brood, or to use a box that was fastened to 

 an elm, on the other side of our house, and 

 out of sight of their apple tree home. \\'ith 

 nnich enthusiastic conversation and wing- 

 waxing, they examined thst one box and 

 then the other. This went on for many 

 days. 



During this time, a House Wren tried to 

 \isit the house on the pole, but Bluebird 

 dashed at him like a fury, and \\'ren left in 

 haste. This was on June iS. After a while 

 the Bluebird affairs quieted, and. being 

 busy, I took no particular note of their 

 actions, except that I saw that a long straw 

 was sticking out of the door of the elm box, 

 and another out of the apple tree box. This 

 seemed a bit strange, as Bluebirds usually 

 tuck in their nests neatl>-. 



On July 14, my notes record, "The Blue- 

 birds have young, old enough to be heard, in 

 the elm box, but continue frequent visits to 

 the tii-st home in the apple tree." 



July TO. T wrote: '"This morning, the 

 Bluebirds had a surprise for nie. 1 heard 

 baby voices in the apple tree box, and the 

 male bird came out and went away with a 

 sac. A little later, we heard little voices (as 

 we ha\e for two days), in the box on the 

 elm. The female \\'as at that box, and the 

 male on our roof, not far away. The parents 

 each feed the young in each box, though one 

 sometimes goes to one box several times in 

 succession. I can see but one male and one 

 female. The voices in the elm sound a bit 

 stronger than those in the apple tree." 



.■\t dusk, c>n July iS, the male had a 

 tussle with another male Bluebird and drove 

 him awav. This was near the elm box. I 



