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THE ROBIN. 205 
but the act is never deliberate or voluntary, a habit that is 
never practised among the species except in extreme cases of 
necessity, for regular bird life has its laws that are observed, and 
crimes and persecutions are often punished. The nest, which is 
an extravagant, clumsy affair, extravagant as to material em- 
ployed, is patted up by the feet at the fork of limbs, and is 
moulded in the inside by the breast, the bird turning round and 
round many times with the tail hugged down close on the outer 
rim, the female performing all the labor. The male takes no part 
in this structure, but is stationed near as a guard, and gives the 
alarm if danger portends, while the mater en famille is absent in 
quest of material. If all be quiet and serene, a snatch of song 
may greet the listening ear, but it is hurried, for the male is 
deeply interested in operations, and feels a heavy responsibility 
resting on his shoulders. When the female is descried with a 
supply in her beak, he immediately flies to meet and accompany 
her. The two alight near and survey the premises when, if all be 
right, the labor goes on vigorously. This. work occupies them 
three or four days, sometimes a shorter period, according to the 
urging necessity of nature that the bird feels. The eggs are de- 
posited daily, until the number is dropped. The robin on an 
average lays four eggs, but I have seen five eggs, followed by five 
birds in one nest, all one mother’s progeny, but there are oftener 
three. Two appears to be the lucky number for the robin, and 
they usually go mated from the nest. A robin lodged her nest 
_ Ma small tree near my dwelling last year in the after part of 
__ May, and reared three young. When they were able to leave the 
_ ‘est, another was built a little farther off in the fork of a young 
pear tree, not more than five feet from the ground. ‘In this nest 
was brought up, right under the loaded boughs of a cherry tree, 
_ two fine birds, a male and a female, and all my sedulous watching 
never caught them in the guilty act of carrying cherries to the 
_ nest. The birds had become accustomed to me, and familiar, and 
Dever appeared to stand in fear of my scrutinizing presence, 
gem they eyed my movements as closely as I viewed theirs ; 
ut I always observed a formal distance, and held in respect their 
Individual rights : thus was I tolerated without giving g disturbance. 
The robin rears but two broods in one season. After the first 
brood. leaves the nest, in a day or two, they are turned over 
ig to en a of the male, who ips protects, and keeps — 
