ae ee PU BONY (Bee Eh DstN 5 
parasitizing robin nests, and near Buckeye Lake in Ohio robins have been 
seen feeding cowbirds out of the nest. It would seem difficult for baby 
cowbirds to hold their own with baby robins. Dr. Friedman writes that 
he once “put two very young cowbirds in a robins’ nest which contained 
only eggs at the time. The robins stopped incubating their own eggs and 
took care of and reared the young cowbirds. On one occasion I chanced 
to pass the nest when the cowbirds were about seven days old, and found 
about two inches of the tail of a very small garter snake was protruding 
from the bill of one of the cowbirds. The bird finally swallowed and 
digested the snake!” 
One final tale about a courageous individual. A few warm days in 
late March, 1935, encouraged robins and mourning doves and even a 
cardinal to start building. On the 27th we noticed a robin fitting herself 
into crotches in our honey locust, but no mate was in evidence. In the 
afternoon she started to bring material, but the wind blew it away. The 
next two days everything that was brought was carried off by the wind or 
purloined by a female English sparrow. But difficulties did not daunt this 
bird. On March 30 she brought stuff in such large amounts and so fast 
that the foundation was laid and we named her Victoria. The following 
day she devoted to mudding her house, working in the mud with her feet 
and vibrating her wings in a strange manner. On April 8 she started to 
incubate her four eggs. 
Albert does not seem to have been a forceful personality. Only twice 
is he specifically mentioned in my notes: once he drove a dove from the 
honey locust, and once he protested at the visit of a pair of bronzed grackles. 
On the 21st Victoria was feeding her first baby. All went well for a 
week and then her old enemy the wind began to buffet her. All of a sudden 
we noticed the nest had been blown sidewise; we rushed out and discovered 
two unfortunate babies on the. ground. We got out the long ladder and 
carefully balanced it against the great thorns; Constance climbed while I 
steadied it. The babies were replaced and the nest secured with twine, 
while Albert and Victoria quite mistook the nature of our activities. One 
baby recovered, but the other had been too much injured. 
One more adventure was to come to this family. On May 4 we heard 
the greatest commotion. Eight or more robins were in pursuit of a crow 
that was sailing off with empty talons. One baby was still in the nest, 
another was on the ground, while the third had reached the neighboring 
apple tree. 
We are fortunate that robins Rave elected to adopt us, to follow our 
settlements to the west and south, and to give us a native bird not afraid 
to live in a city. Familiarity should not dull our appreciation of their 
bright colors, their strong-minded, upstanding ways, and their hearty songs. 
5708 Kenwood Avenue, Chicago, Illinois. 
FT ft fT 
A COOT BANDED at Orland, Ill., was picked up six days later in the streets 
of Glassford, Pa. 
