“ abundant in large flocks, and in full song until December 31, no songs being heard later. The
greater portion of their number bad departed March 15, but several birds were seen in April. On
the 11th, 21st, and 27th, one was observed each day.” Mr. Wayne has also noticed the species in
the Wacissa and Ancilla regions of Florida (Auk, xii. p. 366).
In Louisiana Mr. Coombs states that the Robin is abundant in flocks during winter, sometimes
lingering as late as March 17th (Auk, ix. p. 206). Mr. Beckham, in his paper on the birds of
Bayou Sara in the same State, says they appear there in large numbers in February to feed on the
fruit of the wild peach, when hundreds are shot for the table (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vii. p. 160).
According to Mr. Dresser (Ibis, 1865, p. 475), this species, was “ not uncommon near San
Antonio in Texas during winter, and found more abundantly during a severe ‘ norther. . Mr. Attwater
(Auk, ix. p. 345) found it an abundant migrant near San Antonio. Mr. N. C. Brown states that it
was irregularly abundant at Boerne; and Mr. C. W. Beckham writes j £ “ A good many Robins were
seen during the winter and as late as March 20th at San Antonio, and they were quite common near
Corpus Christi, but whether they were M. migratoria proper, or M. propingua, I am unable to say.
Of the three specimens collected at Corpus Christi, only one can be referred to the eastern form ..
(Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. x. p. 695). Four specimens obtained by Mr. F. B. Armstrong at Corpus
Christi in November, and now in the Salvin-Godman Collection, are all true T. migratorius.
Mr. Nehrling says that it was very common in the woods in Texas from November to April
(Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vii. p. 6); and in Western Texas, Mr. Lloyd found it tolerably common in
spring and fall, a few wintering in the river bottoms and abundantly further south (Auk, iv. p.. 298).,
From the above note of Mr. Beckham’s, it is evident that both eastern and western races of the
“ Robin” winter in Texas, as they do further south. The Salvin-Godman Collection contains
examples from La Parada (A. Soucard) and Villa Alta in Oaxaca (M. Trujillo), The specimen shot
by Mr. Salvin at Coban in Vera Paz, Guatemala, in January 1860, is also referable to the true
T. migratorius.
In the West Indies it is only known as an accidental visitor to Cuba (Cory, Auk, iii. p. 3).
A specimen of the American Robin was found in Heligoland on the 14th of October, 1874, and
Gatke believed that it was a visitor from Asia, as “ there occurred in that year a very powerful
migration of species from the east ” (B. Heligoland, Engl. ed. p. 255). The species has been
captured in England at Dover, in the spring of 1876 (Harting, Zool. 1877, p. 14), and on the
Continent of Europe at least four times, once near Berlin, twice near Vienna, and once in Bohemia.
I have taken the following account of the habits of the American Robin from the recent work
of Mr. Nehrling, as he not only gives very good original observations, but also embodies Me pith of
those of other observers :—
“ The early spring flowers still sleep beneath snow and ice, the cold, north and west winds still
wildly sweep the northern part of our country. A ll nature seems dead. Only a small number of
feathered winter visitants have come from the far north and move about in the trees aud shrubbery
of the garden. Crossbills and Redpolls have calready departed to their northern home. A few
Kinglets, Tree-Sparrows, Titmice, and Cedar Birds swing themselves on the snow-laden boughs of
.the pines and spruces. Suddenly, and entirely unexpectedly, a loud song of jubilation.is carolled
from the top of a neighbouring elm. There, in the top of yonder dark green pine is perched another
one of these singers. They are Robins, just returned 'from their winter quarters, heralding in
reverberating jubilation the approach of spring. This, our beautiful familiar Thrush, certainly merits
the name ‘ harbinger o f the vernal season,’ for it is one of the first of our birds to arrive from the
south. In the Northern States it often makes its appearance before the middle of March, though
the great majority do not arrive till the end of that month. The inclement weather which often
persists for several weeks, and the consequent scarcity of food, sometimes force the bird to return
southward again. Usually, however, it will remain in spite of» the wintry garment covering nature,
searching for food in spots from which the snow has melted, and enlivening its habitation with its
powerful music. In the Northern States the whole of April is an inclement, changeful month. It
is only in May, a month which often, too, retains traces of winter, that our birds of early arrival find
favorable weather and abundance of their principal insect food.
“ Probably none of our birds has become so esteemed a favorite with the American people as
the ‘ Robin.’ The pilgrim fathers o f Massachusetts called this Thrush the Robin, or Robin Redbreast,
because it reminded them of the affectionate and beloved Robin of their English home. The love
of the latter bird together with its name passed over to the somewhat similarly-colored Thrush of
their new country. Hence to this very day the people of New England highly prize and in every
way protect the Robin. It has, thanks to this protection, not only multiplied greatly, but has taken
up its home in numbers in villages and even in cities. Its familiarity, its early arrival from the
south, its sonorous flute-like song, and its wide distribution have contributed not a little to this bird’s
favorable reception among us.
“ The greater number pass the winter in the Gulf States. I have observed them in large flocks
in the forests of the lowlands of Texas aud in the hummock-woods of Florida, where the fruit of
different species of holly and the sparkle-berry furnish an abundance of food during the whole
winter. Even in the middle of February I have seen them in great numbers in the sugar-cane
fields and in the extensive cypress-swamps of southern Louisiana. During mild winters single
individuals may be found in protected spots even in New England, where they subsist on the
remains of wild fruits and berries. More commonly they pass the winter in the Middle States. In
Wisconsin the Robin is very common everywhere. In the beautiful, well-watered forests of that
State the bird is almost as numerous as in the cultivated districts. Inf Illinois and likewise in the
south-western part of Missouri and northern Arkansas it is also a common summer resident. In
the last-named localities it arrives, according to the weather, from the beginning to the end of
February. In the Gulf region the Robin appears only in winter.
“ All our Thrushes, with few exceptions, are timid and shy, and shun the society of man.
Most of them retreat to the deep woodland solitudes far from the abodes of man. All this is
different with the Robin. Though originally a true forest bird, it has now everywhere attached
itself to man, and, though still retaining its former sagacity and vigilance, has become quite confiding
and fearless. You can find the Robin everywhere, in field and forest, in meadow and marsh, on
hills and in valleys, in parks and gardens, and even high up in the mountains. It may be met
with invariably in the woods where the trees and undergrowth are not too dense. The Robin’s
favorite haunts, however, are districts where woods and fields alternate, and where there are
orchards and swampy meadows. It breeds even in wooded swamps, especially where evergreens
and deciduous trees grow together. In the cultivated parts of the entirely tree-less western prairies
the Robin has become abundant since orchards were planted.
“ In Wisconsin and other Northern States the Robin will begin to build its nest as early as the
middle of April, providing the weather is fair. In south-western Missouri it pommences as early as
the end of March. I have found the nests at a height of from two to thirty feet from the ground, in
the most various positions and situations ; on trees, on high stumps, in the roots matted together with
soil of trees prostrated by storms, in corners of rail-fences, on rafters and under the eaves of old and
uninhabited log cabins, in sheds and old barns, on all kinds of fruit and ornamental trees, in bowers
formed by the wild grape and other climbing plants, &c. With decided preference it selects a
nesting sité in the dense coniferous trees now so generally used in ornamental gardening. It
probably chooses such places because the nest is more protected from cats than in other, situations.
I t is remarkable that such an intelligent bird as the Robin does not always display the necessary