256 Roosevelt Wild Life Bulletin 



Robin. Planesticus migratorius migratorius (Linn.) 



The Robin is so common and well known that a description of 

 the bird would seem hardly necessary. Yet I have found that few 

 people can describe a Robin correctly. The bird is about ten inches 

 long, gray on the upper parts, becoming almost black on head and 

 tail, particularly in the male. The throat is streaked black and white, 

 and the breast a brownish red. The under parts are white, and the 

 outer tail feathers tipped with white. Young birds have breasts 

 spotted like those of the true thrushes, and backs streaked with 

 whitish. 



Robins are abundant in the Park, as they are in this general 

 northern region. They are found in orchards and about buildings, 

 but are seldom met with in the forest, particularly in the denser 

 parts. While this species is common, I believe it is by no means the 

 commonest bird of the Park, as at least three others, the Song 

 Sparrow, Red-eyed Vireo and Indigo Bunting, exceed it in abundance. 



The song of the Robin is a lively, sweet carol, made up of short 

 phrases of two or three notes each. In the early morning the bird 

 sings these phrases rapidly, one after the other, without pause some- 

 times for as much as fifteen minutes at a time. When singing 

 later in the day there are not only short pauses between the phrases, 

 but the phrases themselves are grouped together in fours and fives, 

 with longer pauses between the groups. 



The nest of the Robin is placed in a great variety of locations. 

 The bird prefers a broad, nearly flat surface on which to place the 

 nest, and also likes shelter from above. In a tree, a broad flat limb 

 or fork of rather large limbs is commonly chosen. The bird likes 

 to make its home about buildings, placing the nest on rafters or 

 beams, or under piazzas, roofs or bridges. The nest is made of 

 mud and grasses, and the eggs are light greenish blue in color, well 

 known to every dweller in the country. 



Kingbird. Tyr annus tyrannus (Linn.) 



The Kingbird is a little smaller than the Robin, with dark gray 

 upper parts, the head almost black, the tail black with a broad white 

 band across the end, and the under parts pure white. The white 

 tail band is the best field mark, as no other bird has the tail marked 

 just this way. On the crown of the head is a patch of orange, con- 

 cealed under the dark gray tips of the feathers, but, despite the 

 colored plates that always make this mark prominent, it rarely 

 shows in a living bird. 



The Kingbird is common in the Park, occurring about orchards 

 and shade trees, wherever there is open country, with scattered trees, 

 posts or wires to serve as vantage points. It perches in a conspicu- 

 ous place near the top of a tree, whence it darts out and snaps up the 

 flying insects that pass, or gives chase to a Crow or Hawk that comes 

 i"oo near. In the latter case the larger bird always retreats, for the 

 Kingbird will fly above it, and repeatedly dashing downward, peck 

 feathers from its back, or even alight on its back and ride a little 

 way if it has the opportunirv. 



