SOME BIRDS 



I delight in watching these birds on the lawn. 

 One will hop or run about for a time, then stop, 

 peer this way and that, and suddenly bracing him- 

 self, look intently at a certain spot for a second. 

 Down darts his bill, catching the head of the 

 worm as it protrudes from its burrow, and then 

 comes the tug of war. If he has got hold of a 

 big fellow, his back straightens more and more as 

 he pulls, until suddenly the worm loosens his 

 hold and Master Robin has to recover himself 

 quickly to avoid tumbling over on his back. If 

 the birds are still in the nest, and small, the robin 

 is apt to drop the worm on the hard path near by, 

 and cut it in pieces of what he deems a proper 

 size, before flying away to his nest. The robins 

 start South, I think, almost as soon as they are 

 full grown, and in August we see only the ones 

 who have remained to rear a second brood, while 

 by September these, too, are nearly all gone. 

 Even late in the month, however, one is apt to 

 see a solitary belated one, and now and then 

 flocks of a dozen or more will stop at the island 

 for a day's rest, as they pass from breeding- 

 grounds farther north. You are pretty sure to 

 see them then on the gravelly beach taking a 

 bath, as a refreshment after their flight. They 



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