284 USEFUL BIRDS. 
The destruction of small fruits by Robins usually bears 
hardest on small growers, or on families who raise only a 
little fruit for their own use. Large strawberry growers have 
told me that the birds do them no noticeable harm, nor have 
I known of any very serious and widespread destruction of 
cultivated fruit by Robins in this State. Much harm is said 
to have been done by them in other States, however, notably 
in New Jersey and California. 
Notwithstanding the fact that the Robin is sometimes in- 
jurious to the interests of the small-fruit grower, it is one 
of the most useful of all birds to the farmer and orchardist, 
being probably as indispensable to the farm as any bird that 
could be named. The problem that must be solved by the 
fruit grower is how to prevent the Robin from destroying 
small fruits, for the farmer and orchardist are interested in 
seeing the numbers of this bird increased rather than dimin- 
ished. The value of the bird to the farmer consists in the 
following facts. It remains in Massachusetts a large part 
of the year, and during the spring and early summer it lives 
almost entirely on insects and worms, while insects form a 
considerable portion of its food for the rest of the season. It 
forages on fields, lawns, and cultivated grounds for many of 
the insects that the farmer finds most difficult to control. It 
also destroys many caterpillars, including hairy species, of 
orchard, woodland, and shade trees. 
Professors Jenks in Massachusetts, King in Wisconsin, 
Forbes in Illinois, and Beal at Washington, and Mr. Wilcox 
in Ohio, have each studied the food of this bird. All these 
gentlemen regard the Robin as beneficial except Mr. Wilcox, 
who, while giving it due credit for a certain amount of the 
good that it does, believes that the small-fruit grower should 
be allowed to protect his crops by killing Robins where it 
seems necessary. It should be noted, however, that a large 
proportion of the Robins that Mr. Wilcox examined were 
shot about the fruit garden on the experiment station 
grounds when the fruit was ripe; and their food for the 
time being would not fairly represent the average aliment 
of the Robin, any more than would the food of the Robins 
shot about Mr. Trouvelot’s insectary correctly represent the 
