June, 1922 
FOREST AND STREAM 
255 
The stump with woodpecker holes Nest and eggs of robin Young robins about to leave the nest 
{TRAGEDIES AT ROBIN NESTING TIME 
■ THESE BUSY, CHEERFUL BIRDS LOSE MANY A BROOD OF YOUNG 
AS THIS SEASON’S HISTORY OF A ROBIN COMMUNITY SHOWS 
By ALVIN M. PETERSON 
T WO of the three first robins’ nests 
the writer observed during the 
past season in Wisconsin were 
destroyed. All that saved the third 
was the fact that it was hard to see and 
j still harder to reach. The first was in the 
I crotch of one of the main branches of a 
thorn tree. Incubation was well begun and 
the nest, bird, curved branches and small 
young leaves made a pretty picture, 
j Each time I passed I stopped under the 
j tree for a look at the brave little mother 
[bird. One day I found the nest poked 
out of place and the eggs destroyed. 
The second nest was in a crotch 
formed by the main trunk and a branch 
ten feet from the ground. Here, too, 
I the robin was sitting on its eggs when 
the nest was found and destroyed by 
boys. A large tin can from a dump had 
been used for the first step. Mud on 
the branches below the nest told the rest 
of the story. 
A little instruction of the right sort 
will save many nests from being de- 
I stroyed by such little miscreants. Boys 
1 when interested in birds and once in the 
I habit of hunting them with note-book 
! and field-glass are sure to be among the 
birds’ best friends. Uninstructed, they 
roam near and far with sling-shot and 
air-gun, and are among the birds’ worst 
I enemies. 
The next of these early three nests had 
an interesting history. It was a large, 
substantial one and was built above one 
of the doors leading into the Dairy 
I Building at the State Fair Grounds. 
I Above the adjoining door was another 
looking much like the new one, which 
was no doubt used bj"^ the same birds 
last year, as it was in perfect condition. 
The present nest was built during the 
first part of April and by the fifteenth 
contained one pretty blue egg. On the 
fifteenth it began to rain, which later in 
the day changed to snow. All that night 
and all the next day the storm continued 
unabated, and on the sevententh I saw 
the largest snow drifts I had ever seen. 
In many cases they were six, eight and 
even ten feet deep. A large dome- 
shaped drift lay across the walk leading 
to the building where the robins had built 
so snugly above the door. 
All through the storm and nearly all 
day on the seventeenth the female was 
seen to be sitting on the one egg in the 
nest. Luckily for the birds, the seven- 
teenth was a clear, warm day and the 
snow soon melted from spots that the 
wind had kept almost free from snow. 
Three additional eggs were soon laid 
and incubation began. The bird became 
very tame and I always stopped beneath 
the nest whenever I chanced that way. 
Later, when the little birds were out of 
the shell I took several pictures of her 
as she kept them warm. She never 
showed any signs of alarm except when 
I insisted on watching her as she fed the 
small birds. 
Just five weeks after the great storm 
I found that they had left the nest. Then 
for many days I saw them on the ground, 
about the building, or on some conve- 
nient pole or board until they left the 
place entirely. 
piVE out of the next eight nests ob- 
^ served were ill-fated. Two of the 
remaining three nests were successful, 
for I saw the birds safely out before I 
left that locality for the summer, and I 
have every reason for believing that the 
third fared as well. Three of the five 
ill-fated nests were built on the project- 
ing parts of buildings where they could 
easily be seen by boys and cats. 
During one week I found that just 
half the nests I had then located were 
either robbed, destroyed or deserted. 
Most of these were located near town 
in nooks that were favorite haunts for 
small boys — stray cats, too, for that mat- 
ter. I believe that some were deserted 
by the birds after being visited injudici- 
ously by curious and not vicious boys. 
The later nests were farther from town 
and hence safer from depredations — only 
two were ill-fated. 
The first I am inclined to believe was 
robbed by other birds. It was built in 
the ragged top of a willow stump about 
four feet from the ground. The broken- 
off part of the tree was still fastened 
near one edge of the stump, while stump 
and main trunk were filled with holes 
• See “Robin Homes,” by the same author in 
the March number ot Forest and Stream. 
made by hungry woodpeckers. The fe- 
male was sitting on her eggs when I 
first discovered the nest. I visited the 
place the following week and found bird 
and eggs gone. 
The other nest with tragic history was 
built in the main crotch of a thorn tree 
about four feet from the ground where 
it could only too easily be t isited by cats 
from the neighborhing farmhouse. Here 
five little birds were hatched, only to be 
destroyed when but a day or two old. 
""PHE first of the last four I shall men- 
^ tion was a hanging nest securely 
fastened to a vine which had sjiread itself 
all over the top of a small tree. Parts 
of the vine hung down from the tree in 
masses, and in one of these the nest 
hung. The tree stood leaning over the 
muddy bank of a creek. Here the young 
birds were hatched and grew to be large 
and then flew out into the great wide 
June world. The parent birds never 
became accustomed to my coming and 
going, and always made a great deal of 
noice whenever I was near. They began 
as soon as I came in sight and continued 
until I was well on my way again. It 
seemed to me, too, that they hurried the 
brood off and away. I did not see the 
young birds around the deserted nest as 
long as I did most of the other successful 
broods. 
'I'hc second of the four was built on 
the branch of a broken-down tree and 
was I)ut a little over a foot from the 
ground. It was shaded by a second tree 
which dropped over the prostrate one. 
The nest contained four eggs which in 
a short time hatched. The young birds 
grew rapidly, as all young robins do, 
and one day when I came to look at them 
I found them about to leave. The ne.st 
was filled to overflowing with young 
birds and made an amusing sight. I 
wanted to get a picture of it. heaping 
full, but dared not wait until the follow- 
ing day when the light would be better 
for fear they would all be gone. 
I worked my way slowly up to the 
nest and adjusted the camera, the old 
birds keeping up a continual chirping 
(Continued on page 275) 
