ROBIN. 201 



They are commonly brought up in the cage, and seem very 

 docile and content. They sing well, readily learn to imitate 

 lively parts of tunes, and some have been taught to pipe forth 

 psalms even to so dull and solemn a measure as that of " Old 

 Hundred" ! They acquire also a considerable taste for mim- 

 ickry, imitating the notes of most of the birds around them, 

 such as the Bluebird, Pewee, Whip-poor-will, and others. On 

 being approached with the finger, they usually make some 

 show of anger by cracking and snapping the bill. At times 

 they become very tame, and will go in and out of the house 

 with domestic confidence, feel uneasy when left alone, and on 

 such occasions have sometimes the sagacity of calling attention 

 by articulating endearing words, as pretty, pretty, etc., connec- 

 ting, apparently with these expressions, their general import of 

 attentive blandishment. They become almost naked in the 

 moulting season, in which they appear to suffer considerably, 

 yet have been known to survive for 1 7 years or upwards. The 

 rufous color of the breast becomes deeper in those birds which 

 thus live in confinement. Their principal song is in the morn- 

 ing, and commences before sunrise, at which time it is very 

 loud, full, and emphatic. 



The eastern form of this species is not found westward of the 

 Great Plains excepting in the far North, where it has been traced 

 to the Yukon district of Alaska. From the eastern base of the 

 Rockies to the Pacific it is replaced hy propingua, a larger, grayer 

 variety. 



I have seen large flocks of Robins in New Brunswick during 

 some winters, and every year they are more or less common during 

 the cold months. These winter birds have much more white on 

 their under parts than is seen on specimens taken in the summer, 

 and their entire plumage is hoary. They doubtless spend the sum- 

 mer much farther north, — probably on the barren lands which 

 border the Arctic Ocean, — and are but the northernmost edge of 

 that cloud of Robins which every autumn rises from their breeding- 

 grounds and sails away southward until, when it has finally settled, 

 its eastern margin is found stretched from the Gulf of St. Lawrence 

 to the West Indies. Throughout this range, embracing as it does 

 many variations of climate, Robins may be found in suitable local- 

 ities during every winter, — rather rare, sometimes, at the north, 

 but increasing in abundance towards the South. 



