BIRD LEGEND AND LIFE 



of the little dame, though her mate assisted in providing 

 material and helping to place the soft grass lining. How 

 little she seemed to care about her appearance! How worn 

 and tired and bedraggled she looked while the work was 

 gorug on! But this seeming carelessness was not to be a 

 permanent defect in her character, for as soon as her house 

 was plastered, she took a refreshing bath in a wayside pool, 

 carefully arranged her feathers, and was again the neat, 

 trim little creature to whom robin had paid court in the days 

 just gone. 



This pool-bathing, by the way, is a time-honored cus- 

 tom among robins. Often a number of them are seen in- 

 dulging together in this form of recreation, then scattering 

 to hop about the lawn or grass spots in the open woodland, 

 in quest of grubs and worms — and never seen to better ad- 

 vantage are these touches of living color, that add charm to 

 any landscape. In the midst of winter, on hearing the robin 

 mentioned, this, in all probability, would be the mental pic- 

 ture recalled by nine out of every ten persons. 



On bright sunny days, with a heart brimming over with 

 springtime, robin often perched on a swinging bough and 

 allowed the joy of the season to gush from his throbbing 

 throat. Even in the rain he sang! His world was so full of 

 happiness that he must needs express it whether the sun 

 shone or not. While his song is not so musical as that of 

 many another bird, it charms us because it speaks of cheer — 

 even in the midst of cheerlessness. This rain-song usually 

 continued till the shower was over, when all the birds of the 

 woods repeated the glad news, then hurried off to another 

 feast ; for the rainy hours were even more fruitful of worms 

 than those of mere nocturnal dampness. 



After the laying of the blue eggs came the weary days 



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