Persistency in Nest-building by a Pair op City Eobins. — Mr. H. 

 H. Clark of this city has kindly placed at my disposal some very interest- 

 ing observations made by him last season relative to the perseverance dis- 

 played by a pair of Eobins {Turdus migratorius) at nest-making under 

 difficulties. A pair of these birds selected for a nesting-site a place in his 

 garden so frequented by cats — the great enemy of town-breeding birds— 

 that it seemed certain the young, if not, indeed, the mother-bird, would be 

 destroyed by them if the birds were allowed to build in the place they had 

 chosen. So, in order to avoid the threatened danger to the brood, as well 

 as the pain of witnessing their destruction, Mr. Clark resolved to inter- 

 cept their work, hoping thereby to force them to choose a safer nesting- 

 place. He accordingly pulled down their partly formed nest. The next 

 morning there was a great outcry from the birds over their loss, and 

 . no little commotion among the other Robins of the neighborhood. To his 

 surprise the birds immediately set to work to rebuild the nest, aided by 

 several of their sympathizing neighbors, who brought materials faster than 

 the architect seemed able to properly bestow them, so that in a single 

 morning considerable progress was made with the new structure. The 

 next morning the birds found their nest had been again destroyed. Not a 

 ■whit discouraged, they resumed their labors, building again in the same 

 spot as before, but this time without help. The nest was now constructed 

 with greater care, being securely fastened by strings passed round the branch 

 on which it rested, which were also carried up and made fast to a limb 

 above. These precautions availed them nothing, for this nest shared the 

 fate of the others. An act begun in a spirit of kindness toward the birds 

 was now continued in the interest of scientiao investigation. A fourth 

 time the persistent birds rebuilt their nest at the same spot, with to them 

 the same sad result. For the fifth time they began to rebuild the nest ; 

 this was too much for my informant's feelings to resist, and he resolved to 

 let them carry out their plans. To his surprise, however, they soon began 

 to destroy the structure themselves, taking the materials to a branch 

 higher up, as if divining not only the source of their troubles, but the rea- 

 son that had prompted the repeated removal of their nest ; but after a 

 morning's work the nest was abandoned, and another site for it was se- 

 lected some rods away in a safer position. Here again, however, they 

 later came to grief, their eggs being taken by a ruthless boy, an habitual 

 robber of bird's-nests. 



The interesting points here brought out are the tenacity with which this 

 pair of Robins adhered to their chosen nesting-place ; the concerted action 

 of their sympathizing neighbors in aiding them at first to rebuild ; the 

 later greater care they displayed in more firmly attaching the nest to its 

 resting-place ; and finally the apparently inteUigent recognition of the 

 source and cause of their troubles, and voluntary choice of a safer location. 

 — J. A. Allen, Gamhridge, Mass^xLiX, N.O.O. 3, April. 1878, P. /OS '/ 



j CuEious Nestjnb.— May 6, while out collecting with ii 

 companion, we stopped at a spring for a refreshing drink, 



j for the day was very warm. All at once we were attracted 

 by a rustling overhead and imagine our surprise to see a 

 Hobin , {M ■miqrat/iria). Hying out of a large knot hole in an 



\ oak tree which was near at hand. Hastily climbing we 

 found a nest in the hole, loosely put together, which con- 



j tained four fresh eggs. 



I O.&O. IX. Dec. 1884. p. 747. 



^^^^^^^^^ 9Xt^^' 



Another case was that of a robin that was 1 

 ' sitting on eggs underneath the flooring of an 

 overhead railway bridge, with the trains con- j 

 stantly passing. I was unable to see the result [ 

 in this case. ! 



O.&O. XIV. May. 1889 p.77 



Bxief Ilotee. 



^"l*^^ V , in the basement^^ 

 among the floor timber I found a Robin's 

 nest containing four young birds. On an 

 offer of fifty cents apiece, I have the young 

 fellows of the neighborhood on the rampage 

 after Bat's eggs. Rufus H. Carr. 



Brockton, Mass. 



0.aO.VoLlS. Jtily.lSOS p. 107 



