1879. | Rob: A Bird Biography. 365 
tail. Oh, tell it not among his kith that Rob, the plucky and the 
impudent, shews the white feather! But leaving figure and 
coming to fact, the truth is, the poor bird was greatly distressed 
about it, so much so that he made up his mind he would not 
stand it, but would extract the offensive things, and at it he went. 
The tail was deflected so as to meet the head, itself turned under 
the perch; the bill then seized one of the craven feathers and 
pulled desperately. As if the perch were a trapeze, the bird 
swung fairly round, going over backwards and falling on the floor 
of the cage. But the feather had not come out. At it again he 
went in the same way, and with the same result. - And this was 
kept up nearly an hour, by which time the tail had become all 
dyed with blood. At last the odious feathers were removed, and 
the poor bird, weak, bleeding and suffering, put its head under a 
wing and took rest. What shall be said to this? Was it pride, 
a-certain proper self-respect? We cannot say. But this matter 
caused us a good deal of solicitude, for it was kept up some 
weeks, as the feathers would come in white. So at length the 
bird submitted in sheer despair. When the feathers came to the 
full there were two white ones in the tail, and as many in each 
wing. At the next molt the number of white’ feathers increased. 
When he was eight years old all the primaries of both wings were 
of a snowy whiteness, also the retrices, or large tail feathers, 
except the central pair which kept their normal dark color in bold 
contrast as lying on a bed of white. This certainly wasa strange 
costume for a robin; in good sooth, his own mother would never 
have known him. In our eyes Rob, though in an eccentric cos- 
tume, seemed a gay and elegant fellow. 
This partial albinism, we believe, is occasionally found among 
the robins. But what is its meaning? Attacking the largest 
feathers of the tail and wings, it might indicate inability of the 
pigment cells to furnish. color any longer at those parts of the 
plumage where the demand was the greatest. It is doubtless due 
to an exceptional atrophy of the secreting color-glands. 
Our pets were usually divided round in the family. Rob was 
claimed by my daughter. It was a tender parting when with her 
husband she left for a new home in a great western city. And even 
Rob had no small share of our good-byes when taken to the car 
with the bridal pair. In his western home he was allowed 
enlarged freedom, his ~~ with open door being often set in the 
