54 
THE ROBIN. 
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 plenti- 
fully supplied with them at a cheap rate. 
ILLUSTRATIVE ANECDOTES. 
In January, 1807, two young men, in one excursion, shot 
thirty dozen Robins. 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 is a favourite 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 quanti- 
ties by these birds, that their whole stomachs are strongly 
tinged with the same red colour. 
A paragraph appeared in the public news papers, inti- 
mating, that, from the great quantities of these berries 
which the Robins had fed on, they had become unwhole- 
some, 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 ; 
