564 
BIRDS OF NEW MEXICO 
(Henry); Pinos Altos Mountains (Fisher); and Cooney (Barrell). These altitudes 
represent about the lowest at which the species breeds commonly in New Mexico, 
though young out of the nest were found June 11, 1913, at Palomas Spring, 4,200 
feet, and were common at 5,000 feet on the Penasco, June 20, 1913 (Ligon). At 
the other extreme, a nest with eggs was 
found July 23, 1903, in the mountains of 
the Upper Pecos at 11,000 feet, and the 
birds were seen to 11,600 feet at the foot of 
Pecos Baldy (Bailey); [young were seen 
July IS, 1919, at timberline about 12,600 
feet on Truchas Peak (Ligon)]. The 
breeding season is long extended; nest¬ 
ing was recorded the middle of May, 
1906, at 6,500 feet on the Mimbres 
(Bailey); and a nest with eggs was found 
May 18, 1913, near Chloride (Ligon); while 
three months later a nest still containing 
young was noted August 20. 1903, at 8,000 
feet on the Pecos (Bailey). Fresh eggs 
are found in northern Santa Fe County, 
April 20-July 10 (Jensen). 
After the breeding season, in the moun¬ 
tains above Taos, they were seen late in 
July, 1904, from 7,400 feet to above timber- 
line at 12,700 feet (Bailey). At Apache, 
where the species does not breed, the first fall arrival was noted August 7, 1886 
(Anthony); at this season it migrates at least as far east as Oak Canyon, September 
3, 1903 (Howell). Along the Red and Cimarron Rivers, in Colfax County, they 
were frequently seen l>etween July 28 and October 24, 1913 (Kalmbach); at Clapham, 
one was seen November 5, 1893 (Seton). 
They remain in New Mexico during the winter and at this season a few descend 
into the low valleys; [they were abundant on the Rio Grande Bird Reserve Novem¬ 
ber 23-December 9, 1916 (Willett)]; were seen at 3,800 feet at Mesilla (Ford); and 
4,000 feet in the valley of the Gila (Stephens); one was noted December 25, 1902, at 
Albuquerque (Harman); but the larger part of the individuals remain through the 
winter in the mountains or the higher valleys even in northern New Mexico. They 
were abundant locally in Union County, November 5, 1915 (Ligon); at Currumpa in 
January, 1894, flocks being seen on January 9 and 15, of at least 100, and January 
21, over 200 (Seton). Even as late as early December, in 1903, they were still 
common at 11,000 feet in the mountains near Twining, and were common all winter 
in the Hondo Canyon, 8,000 feet (Surber); also along the Rio Grande at Espanola, 
5,800 feet (Loring).—W. W. Cooke. 
Nest. —In treeless regions, on the ground; in timber, usually near ground; com¬ 
pact and bulky, made of twigs, leaves, stems, and grasses, plastered together with 
mud, and lined with fine stems and rootlets. Eggs: Usually 4, greenish blue. 
Food. —Vegetable food forms about 58 per cent, over 42 per cent being wild 
fruits and only a little more than 8 per cent being possibly cultivated varieties 
[cedar berries eaten in Colorado and New Mexico (Henderson)]. Except in the 
case of olives which, in years when the native wild fruits fail, are resorted to, the 
depredations of the Robin seem confined to the smaller, earlier fruits which ripen 
before the wild fruits, so that the loss can be prevented by planting the Russian 
From liiologlcal Survey 
Fig. 98. Robin (Turuds migralorius 
migratorius) 
A hard-working parent 
