44 
ROBIN. 
(J\ T yssa sylvatica). So fond are they of gum berries, that wherever 
there is one of these trees covered with fruit, and flocks of Robins in 
the neighborhood, the sportsman need only take his stand near it, load, 
take aim, and fire ; one flock succeeding another with little interruption, 
almost the whole day ; by this method prodigious slaughter has been 
made among them with little fatigue. When berries fail they disperse 
themselves over the fields, and along the fences, in search of worms and 
other insects. Sometimes they will disappear for a week or two, and 
return again in greater numbers than before ; at which time the cities 
pour out their sportsmen by scores, and the markets are plentifully 
supplied with them at a cheap rate. In January 1807, two young men, 
in one excursion after them, shot thirty dozen. In the midst of such 
devastation, which continued many weeks, and by accounts extended 
from Massachusetts to Maryland, some humane person took advantage 
of a circumstance common to these birds in winter, to stop the general 
slaughter. The fruit called poke-berries [Phytolacca decandra, Linn.) 
is a favorite repast with the Robin, after they are mellowed by the 
frost. The juice of the berries is of a beautiful crimson, and they are 
eaten in such quantities by these birds, that their whole stomachs are 
strongly tinged with the same red color. A paragraph appeared in the 
public papers, intimating, that from the great quantities of these berries 
which the Robins had fed on, they had become unwholesome, and even 
dangerous food ; and that several persons had suffered by eating of 
them. The strange appearance of the bowels of the birds seemed to 
corroborate this account. The demand for, and use of them ceased 
almost instantly ; and motives of self-preservation produced at once 
what all the pleadings of humanity could not effect.* When fat they 
are in considerable esteem for the table, and probably not inferior to 
the turdi of the ancients, Avhich they bestowed so much pains on in 
feeding and fattening. The young birds are frequently and easily 
raised, bear the confinement of the cage, feed on bread, fruits, &c, sing 
well, readily learn to imitate parts of tunes, and are very pleasant and 
cheerful domestics. In these I have always observed that the orange 
on the breast is of a much deeper tint, often a dark mahogany or 
chestnut color, owing no doubt to their food and confinement. 
The Robin is one of our earliest songsters ; even in March, while 
snow yet dapples the fields, and flocks of them are dispersed about, 
some few will mount a post or stake of the fence, and make short and 
* Governor Drayton, in his ''View of South Carolina," p. 86, observes that "the 
Robins in winter devour the berries of the Bead tree (Melia Azedarach), in such 
large quantities, that after eating of them they are observed to fall down, and are 
readily taken. This is ascribed more to distension from abundant eating than from 
any deleterious qualities of the plant." The fact, however, is, that they are lite- 
rally choked, many of the berries being too large to be swallowed. 
