32 



HOME STUDIES IN NATURE. 



ing, and its breast deeply inclined. In some instances 

 I have known this bird to recognize at once its friend 

 from its foe, and to suffer the former even to handle 

 the treasure in the nest, with all the marked assurance 

 of the knowledge it possessed of its safety ; when, on 

 the contrary, the latter had to bear all its anger." 



For three successive years a robin {Turdus migrato- 

 rius) nested on a projecting pillar that supports the 



^k^ 



THE ROBIN. 



front piazza. In Harper's Magazine for June, 1875, 

 in an article entitled, "Do Birds Improve as Archi- 

 tects?" this bird and her ungainly mud domicile are 

 mentioned. In the spring of 1874 she built her nest 

 on the top of the pillar — a rude affair; it was prob- 

 ably her first effort. The same season she made her 

 second nest in the forks of an oak, which took her only 



