ATTACKS ON ROBINS. 43 



cries of a young robin and some old robins and blackbirds. Running 

 toward an evergreen from which the cries came, I saw a Crow fly out 

 with a young robin in its bill. Three old robins chased it a short dis- 

 tance, and the blackbirds for about 300 yards, when the Crow lit on a 

 fence, but did not drop its victim. In the evergreen I found a robin's 

 nest containing one young robin apparently dead, but still warm. 

 There was a drop of blood on a branch below the nest, but I could find 

 no marks of injury on the young bird in the nest. *.»-■* When the 

 nest and vicinity were examined again two hours later no sign of the 

 young bird could be found. Probably the Crow took it also." 



The frequency with which the robin is mentioned in the reports of 

 correspondents indicates that it is peculiarly subject to the attacks of 

 the Crow, in spite of the fact that robins nest most commonly in the 

 orchards and shade trees near houses. In attacking such nests the 

 Crow is likely to come early in the morning, evidently because it has 

 learned that at such a time he is least likely to suffer from human inter- 

 ference. The same fact has been observed in regard to the attacks on 

 chickens and on corn planted near houses. 



It is well known that several kinds of wild birds prefer the neigh- 

 borhood of houses when nesting, and as a rale such species increase 

 rapidly with the settlement of a region. This has been attributed in 

 part to the increase of food supply and in part to the immunity secured 

 from natural enemies, of which the Crow is one. 



Crow blackbirds unite to attack a Crow, but the enemy often escapes 

 without injury. Robins, too, combine to punish the despoiler of their 

 homes, but they seldom follow the thief far, and probably their bills 

 are too weak to be very serviceable in such skirmishes. 



It seems probable that originally the robin, like most other 'birds, 

 secured the safety of its nest by hiding it from its enemies. Mr. Mar- 

 tin Trippe says: "The breeding habits of birds undergo considerable 

 modification on the settlement of the country. In the wilds of Minne- 

 sota I never saw the nest of the robin elsewhere than in the tops of 

 the tallest Norway pines. The Crow in similar localities often builds 

 on low bushes." 



It is true that even now the robin frequently hides its nest success- 

 fully in the thickest part of some evergreen tree, but in many, perhaps 

 most, cases no such concealment is attempted. This neglect of con- 

 cealment is sufficient to account for a large proportion of the cases in 

 which the cat-bird, mocking bird, brown thrasher, and crow blackbird 

 are the victims. From the concentration of these birds in the orchards, 

 shade trees, and shrubbery about houses, the robbery of their nests is 

 more often witnessed, and doubtless this fact leads to an overestimate 

 of the harm done by the Crow to small birds in general. 



After the young of the smaller birds are out of the nest, and before 

 they are able to care for themselves, the Crow doubtless picks them 

 up whenever possible. Mr. Charles A. Davis, of Burlington, Yt., wrote 



