WESTERN ROBIN. 95 
stomachs contained wheat and 3 had weed seeds, but dry seeds are evi- 
dently not favorite food with the robin. 
Destruction of olives—From the foregoing the robin would not 
appear to do much damage, or at least not more than is amply paid 
for by the insects it destroys. But, unfortunately, more is to be said 
about its food habits, which does not redound so much to its credit. 
In certain years when their customary food is scarce, robins appear 
in the valleys in immense numbers, and wherever there are olives 
they eat them so eagerly and persistently that the loss is often serious 
and occasionally disastrous. Sometimes, indeed, it is only by the 
most strenuous efforts, with considerable outlay of labor and money, 
that any part of the crop can be saved. Fortunately, such extensive 
damage is not done every year, although here and there the olive 
crop may suffer. 
There is probably no more striking example of exceptional and 
intermittent damage to fruit by birds than an instance which occurred 
in the winter of 1900-1901. In that year the olive orchards in 
various parts of California were invaded by immense numbers of 
robins, which ate the fruit and in some instances destroyed the whole 
crop. In orchards where persistent effort was made to destroy and 
drive them away they still ruined from one-fourth to one-half of the 
yield. Olive orchards in Santa Clara Valley especially were afflicted. 
Mr. Paul Masson, who owns two orchards near Saratoga, as quoted 
by the San Jose Mercury of January 17, 1901, says: 
In my largest orchard of about 500 trees adjoining a larger orchard of about 
50 acres on the El Quito farm, which is owned by E. E. Goodrich, are thousands 
of robins, which are destroying all the fruit on the trees. About two months 
ago I estimated that my trees would yield about 4 tons of olives, but Sunday, 
when I visited my orchard, I found the fruit would not be worth picRing. 
I killed some of the robins, and upon examination found as many as five or 
six whole olives in the crop of each bird. Besides those which the bird had 
swallowed whole, many olives are pecked so that they are spoiled for market. 
Sunday there were not less than 50,000 robins on my place, and they are equally 
as plentiful on FE] Quito farm. 
Mr. Edward E. Goodrich, the owner of El Quito farm and olive 
orchard, quoted by the same authority, says: 
The so-called robin is a destructive pest to an olive orchard. <A crop can not 
be saved when the migration of the robin corresponds exactly with the maturity 
of the olive, as it does this year, except by immediate picking, which is prac- 
tically impossible, or by shooting so constantly as to prevent steady consump- 
tion. * * * In 1898 my crop was 130 tons, and should have made about 
4,000 gallons of oi]. Owing to the lack of rain the result was about 2,750 gal- 
lons, of the value of $11,000. Now, that crop could have been wiped out in ten 
days by robins if they had been here as they were this season and no shooting 
had been done. So far as my foreman could estimate, before the birds 
descended upon the place, he placed the crop at a probable 3,000 gallons, which 
means when sold from $12,000 to $16,000, according to prices, and that would 
have been utterly destroyed but for the constant shooting the last ten days. 
