behind the migration in the same latitude farther east is clearly shown by the record of the Robin.
At Ellis, Kans. (lat. 88° 55'), the first arrived March 21, but in Illinois it reached that latitude six
weeks earlier. At Menoken, Dak. (lat. 46° 58'), it did not arrive until April 29, while at Frazee
City, Minn. (lat. 46° 52'), the bigh, bleak situation answers to a western position, and the Robins
did not come until April 21.
“ The bulk of the species travelled much behind these advance guards in the lower part of the
course, but, moving faster than the scouts, by the time it reached the end of the march, was but a few
days in the rear. The bulk reached latitude 89° between March 12 and 17 ; then moved to latitude
43° March 23 and 24 ; to latitude 45° 30' hy March 27 and 28; to latitude 47° April 5, and to
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba, April 20. From the few scattering notes on the subject, we may
guess that the bulk left latitude 35° March 7, latitude 37° March 25, latitude 39° March 31, and
latitude 41° April 10. By the middle of April, in all the country south of latitude 43°, all Robins
had left those, places where they did not intend to breed, and at the other places had settled down to
summer numbers. This is true not only of the Robins, but also of all those species whose records
are sufficiently voluminous to afford a fair guide to their movements. This overtaking of the van by
the rear may be explained in either of two ways, and it is probable that both causes have some effect.
The individuals forming the van always consist of old birds, and these arriving at the place where
they nested the previous year stop to breed, leaving the advance to be made by those behind, giving
the main body a chance to come close to the van; and, secondly, while the van is being constantly
retarded by storms and cold, the rear travels in more settled weather and would naturally move
faster.
“ In the fall of 1884 the bulk of Robins left Elk River, Minn., September 27, and the last was
seen there November 7. At Hastings, Minn., none were seen after September 29. At Des Moines,
Iowa, the bulk was recorded as leaving October 25, and at Mount Carmel, Mo., October 15. As
already noted, many straggling Robins remain during the winter in sheltered localities much farther
north than the régulai; winter home of the species. At Manhattan, Kans., during the winter of
1884-85, they were as abundant as usual, while a few were noted at various points for thé next
200 miles southward. A single bird was seen at Morning Sun, Iowa, February 6. One remained at
Newton, Iowa, all winter; at La Porte City, Iowa, they were common all winter, and even as
far north as Hastings, Minn., 400 miles beyond its ordinary winter range, two birds were seen
February 27. These may have been migrants a month ahead of their fellows (the next individuals
of which were seen April 1), but it is more probable that they had wintered in that vicinity, as the
neighboring bluffs along the Mississippi River furnish numerous well-sheltered spots, suitable for
winter quarters. Mr. Alexander Scougal, of Siouxi City, Iowa, sent the following interesting note :—
‘ Among our winter birds there is one in particular which I wish to mention. It is the male
Robin. Hardly a person will believe that there is a Robin in the State during the winter ; but on
December 23, 1883, I shot a male Robin but took no particular notice of it except to skin it.
Last December (1884), during the holidays, I took my gun and started for a dense thicket, almost
impenetrable by man or dog. There I saw a number of Robins, and shot three. One of them was
wing-tipped and when caught began to call, .and immediately there were thirty-four Robins sitting
around me, making noise enough to deafen one. I held the one in my hand for a long time so I
could look at the rest ; all of them were male birds, not a female could be seen. I found a house in
the woods and asked the man about them. He informed, me that they had been there all the winter,
but he was not able to distinguish males from females. I cannot say positively that the female does •
not stay here in the winter, but I never have seen one nor heard of any here during that season ; so I
think it must be rarely if ever seen. The day I saw the birds was December 27, and the temperature
was 23 below zero. Again, January 2, 1885, I was there and saw the Robins a second time ; it was
then 17° below zero. I found then in their stomachs wild grapes and seeds from a small bush
(probably Symphoricarpus). The trees in that part of the woods were covered to their top with
grape-vines, and many other vines grew underneath, The birds were in good condition, and seemed
as lively as in midsummer. Hence it would seem that these old birds, being the last to migrate, do
not go so far south as the rest of their species, but get into these dense thickets and are unnoticed
by most people, until with the first warm weather they fly out into the open fields. The first day or
two of February were warm, the mercury rising to 46° above zero, and these Robins were seen by a
good many people in the city. A cry went aroundf • Spring is coming, we have seen a Robin.
But February 5 cold weather returned, and now (February 16) the thermometer ranges from eight to
fourteen degrees below zero. The people wonder where the Robins have gone, but if they would
go to the dense thickets of Walker’s Island, on the Nebraska side of the river, they could find the
same Robins as lively as ever.’
“ The same warm wave of February 2, just spoken of by Mr. Scougal, caused Robins to appear
at Vermillion, Dak., a few miles north-west of Sioux City. A large flock was seen at the same place
February 7.- From points south of latitude 38° records of ‘ firsts’ can hardly be taken as necessarily
indicating northward migration ; but the dates given when the Robins became common show when
the general northward movement began.”
Mr. Ernest Thompson gives a good idea of the migration of this Thrush in his paper on the
Birds of Manitoba (Proc. U.S. Nat. Mus. xiii. p. 635):—“ On April 28, 1882, I drove to the spruce
bush. The country seems flooded with Robins, and the last mile of prairie, just before entering on
the wooded and sandhill region, was covered with an immense straggling flock. They were to be
seen chiefly on the ground or making short flights, and the general movement of the birds was
northward. There must have been several thousands of birds in the flock.”
It has already been noticed that even in Canada and several of the northern and eastern
United States the present species remains occasionally through the winter. A specimen obtained by
Mr. E. W. Nelson in Alaska in November is in the Henshaw Collection. Mr. Chamberlain has
recorded it as wintering in New Brunswick (Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, viii. p. 11), and Mr. Dwight says
that an occasional bird remains on Prince Edward Island through the winter, subsisting on the
berries of the mountain ash (Auk; x. p. 15). Mr. Brown says that the species wintered in unusual
numbers in and about the city of Portland, Maine, in 1888—89 (Auk, vi. p. 283).
Mr. Comeau (Auk, viii. p. 317) writes from Godbout, in Quebec:—“ I desire to place on record
what is to us here a most unusual occurrence, viz., the wintering of the Robin (Merula migratona)
on the north shore of the St. Lawrence. On looking over my notes on the species, extending over
twelve years, I find that the latest bird previously seen was noted on December 5 ; other years from
25th to 30th November. Arrivals in spring have been noted from April 18 to May 6. This year I
kept recording their occurrence day after day, always expecting that it was going to be the last seen,
but they are here still (Feb. 4, 1891), and intend, to stay I believe. Every day when the tide falls,
leaving the rocks or some shoals bare, they flock to these places in hundreds for the purpose of
picking up gravel and small shells; when these places are covered with ice, as often happens, they
hop from one piece of ice to another, following the shore-line, evidently thinking (if birds can think)
there must be something wrong. I have shot several from time to time to see what their crops
contained, and invariably fbund in them small shells, principally minute, blackish whelks, gravel, and
the fruit of the mountain-ash, and sometimes bits of seaweed.
“ All the birds I shot were in first-rate condition. The winter has been a very severe one—
Feb. 2 and 3, 24 and 32 degrees below zero (Fahrenheit)—but this does not seem to truoble
them at all. The reason for their wintering here is possibly due to the enormous crop of
mountain-ash berries.”