J A?/yy 
Robin, Dexter saw the first Robin in Concord village on March 
25. I heard one calling in Birch Field on the 26th. Next morning 
(27th) there was a perfect flood of Robins arriving from Soutja. 
Between 7 and 10 A. M. they were constantly in sight or hearing and 
then 
singing freely there and at evening. Most of the birds comprised 
in the morning in- rush were in flocks, some of which contained 
upwards of 20 numbers each. Ail were moving northward restlessly, 
flying at no great height above the tree tops and occasionally 
pitching down into fields or trees to rest or feed although 
many kept on without any such halt. The wing singing indicated 
birds 
that at least some of our local summer,; had come and this was 
doubtless the case for after that I saw a few daily. More arrived 
about the middle of April. After that we had at least four pairs 
settled to breed within one hundred yards or less of the farm¬ 
house and one pair built a nest near the cabin at Ball’s Hill, 
but eventually disappeared, being either killed ty Hawks or 
driven away by J ays. 
At the Farm a Robin began building, early in May, 
on a wooden shelf under the eaves of the old barn. For upwards 
of two weeks she worked industriously and through some days 
almost ceaselessly, without making the least permanent headway, 
for literally all the material she brought was blown off the smooth 
shelf by the wind, often as fast as she left it there. It con- 
and weed stalks faith now and then grass blades or fronds of grass, 
sisted chiefly of dry grass/, weeds (including dandelions and tansy) 
and ferns. All these littered the ground under the eaves 
profusely and were sometimes retrieved from it by the bird almost 
immediately after they had fallen there, although she usually went 
IS 
