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A Belated Census from Belgium 



I made a bird-census today (December 

 24, 1918) as I have often done out here 

 before to remind me of my old life — soon 

 to be taken up again. Notice the pre- 

 ponderance of the Corvidae in this list; 

 this is what keeps the bird-life down here. 



9 A.M. to 12 M.; temp. 30° to 40°; light 

 south wind; fine. Distance covered 7 

 miles, woods and open cultivated country. 

 Gray Partridge, 46; Pheasant, 2; Wood 

 Pigeon, 2; Green Woodpecker, i; Sky- 

 lark, 6; Magpie, 14; Jay, i; Carrion Crow, 

 12; Hooded Crow, 8; Rook, 215; Starling, 

 12; House Sparrow, 55; Tree Sparrow, 2; 

 Chaffinch, 18; Greenfinch, i; Linnet, i; 

 Yellow Bunting, 2; Tree Creeper, 1; 

 Greater Titmouse, 9; Blue Titmouse, 15; 

 Marsh Titmouse, 2; Golden-crested King- 

 let, 2; Blackbird, 2. Total, 23 species, 429 

 individuals. — Allan Brooks, Jauche (20 

 miles southeast of Brussels), Belgium. 



Robins Enjoy Flat Life 



One by one the birds that formerly 

 nested in our neighborhood disappear. 

 They come at springtime, — Oriole, Wren, 

 Cuckoo, Thrasher, 'Yellowbird' and a few 

 others — but such changes affect the city, 

 such tearing down of old buildings and 

 erection of new ones, such elimination of 

 door-yards and shade trees, that they 

 do but regale us with a sad song or two and 

 bid us farewell. But not so the Robin. 

 That most adaptable of birds which, 

 whether on the farm or in the suburbs 

 is well content to join its architecture to 

 that of man, now accepts the encroach- 

 ing city in the same spirit. 



The pictures accompanying show a 

 Robin's nest in which a brood of four was 

 successfully raised in spite of the interest 

 of a dozen families and the apartment 

 building janitor. No family of Robins 

 was ever offered a more unusual menu 

 than was comprised by the dainties set 



(i 



out on the posts and railings of the court 

 porch of which one picture gives a general 

 view. 



The building, a new one, of three stories, 

 completely encloses the court. There are 

 no trees or green open spaces, except the 



ROBIN NEST 



parkway lawns, in the immediate vicinity. 

 But Robin saw on the joist supporting 

 the floor beams of the top-story porch an 

 ideal nesting-site and the result justified 

 the selection. — E. R. Ford, Chicago, III. 



Robin's Nest on a Wren-House 



Our neighbor built for us an attractive 

 little birch-covered bird-house, 'bungalow 

 style,' with a porch and overhanging roof. 

 We put it up under the eaves of the house, 

 just about the time we thought the Wrens 

 would appear. But before any of their 

 kind had been seen, a Robin spied the 

 structure. She was evidently a city Robin, 

 for she was at once attracted to the modern 

 little house we had put out for 'Jenny' 



03) 



