178 MEMOIRS OF THE NUTTALL ORNITHOLOGICAL CLUB 



Mr. 'Ralph Lawson observed one at Salem on January 4, 1919. 



On November 7, 191 5, at Ipswich I watched a Hermit Thrush pick at a 

 woolly-bear caterpillar on the ground till he had beaten off all the hairs after which 

 he swallowed the naked black worm. 



Besides the breeding stations of Lynn, North Beverly, Gloucester, Magnolia, 

 Essex, Georgetown, Topsfield, and Boxford, Amesbury must be added on the 

 authority of Mr. Damsell.^ 



329 [761] Planesticus migratorius migratorius (Linn.). 



Robin. 



Permanent resident, abundant in summer, uncommon in winter ; average date 

 of arrival for eight years, March 16. 



Eggs: April 27 to July 25. 



The nest referred to in the original Memoir that was built over the lintel of 

 my front door at Ipswich was added to and occupied every year from 1901 to 

 1906 inclusive. It had then attained a height of eight inches. The following 

 winter it was blown down, and a pair of Robins built the next summer in a bush 

 close to the door. Lately they have built over the door again. 



A multiple nest was built, presumably by one pair of Robins, in the spring of 

 1907, on the ledge over the window of a boat-house, on the marsh at Ipswich, 

 and a brood was raised in one of the nests. On the ledge, four nests were built 

 side by side of mud and dried eel-grass. Each of these nests was only about one- 

 third of the height of the usual Robin's nest. Beyond these on the ledge was a 

 fifth nest, represented by a slight cup-shaped depression, while beyond this was a 

 sixth represented by but a small amount of mud, not shaped, and covered with eel- 

 grass alone.^ 



The Robin is a beautiful singer ; his familiar notes are full of cheer and hope, 

 but there is a great variation in the excellence of the performance. I have known 

 two Robins who utterly failed : one sang a hoarse and squeaky song while another, 

 that has nested on my place at Ipswich for the last two years, sings so poorly that 

 I was at first unable to recognize the origin. Two notes, wee you, repeated three 

 to five times, constitute his song. 



In the summer of 1915, Robins began to roost in my " forest" at Ipswich — 

 the acre of native trees, most of them set out as seedlings in 1900 — and they have 

 continued to roost there much to my delight every year since. I have never 



1 Allen, G. M. Auk, vol. 30, p. 29, 1913. 



^Townsend, C. W. Journ. Maine Ornith. Soc, vol. 11, pp. 30, 31, 1909. 



