Robins

“ The robins know I am a friend of theirs, in spite of their taste for early strawberries and cherries, and when I am at work they are very sociable and familiar. One or two will light on raspberry stakes and sing and twitter almost as incessantly and intelligently as the children in their playhouse under the great oak tree. ”

“ THE robins sang in the orchard, the buds into blossoms grew; Little of human sorrow the buds and the robins knew! Sick, in an alien household, the poor French neutral lay; Into her lonesome garret fell the light of the April day, Through the dusty window, curtained by the spider's warp and woof, On the loose-laid floor of hemlock, on oaken ribs of roof, The bedquilt's faded patchwork, the teacups on the stand, The wheel with flaxen tangle, as it dropped from her sick hand. ”

“ How incomprehensible it is that any one should speak of the few robins that venture to remain! Flocks of a hundred or more are not uncommon in the depth of winter, and this recalls the fact that at this time of year robins are never alone. It may appear so for a time, but when the bird you are watching is ready to move on, his call will be answered by others that you have not seen, and half a dozen at least will fly off to new scenes. ”

“ The robins choose thick trees and even wild rose-bushes for roosts. In the apple-trees and pines of a neighbor’s yard across the fields these birds find sleeping-apartments early in the spring, before nest-building is begun, for a perfect deluge of robin music often pours from that locality, both morning and evening. ”

“ The robin laughed in the orange-tree:
“Ho, windy North, a fig for thee:
While breasts are red and wings are bold
And green trees wave us globes of gold,
Time’s scythe shall reap but bliss for me
—Sunlight, song, and the orange-tree. ”

“ The robin is a familiar example of a bird which is held in veneration by the popular mind. The legend of the robins in the Babes in the Wood may have increased this veneration. There was a popular saying that the robin had a drop of God's blood in its veins, and that therefore to kill or hurt it was a sin, and that some evil would befall anyone who did so, and, conversely, any kindness done to poor robin would be repaid in some fashion. Boys did not dare to harry a robin's nest. ”

“ The robin is an out-door bird. He lives in the sunshine. He attracts no sympathy by delicate ways. He is altogether robust, and full of dashing life. When twenty or thirty robins between three and four o’clock in a June morning are at full voice, it would be no exaggeration to compare it to a rain of music. ”

“ The fussiest, least sensible mother among the birds is the robin. Any place for her nest but a safe one! The number of young robins annually sacrificed to pure parental carelessness is appalling. The female chooses the site for the home, and her ability for blundering upon unattractive and exposed locations amounts to genius. She insists upon building on the sand. Usually the rain descends, the floods come, the winds blow, and there is a fall.
"In the tree next to the chebec's was a brood of robins. ”

“ Robins become very tame. I once had the pleasure of the companionship of a dear, gentle, little English robin—a bird very different in size and manner from his American cousin—who would come out of the shrubbery whenever I called him. He would approach within two or three feet of my chair, to snatch the soft crumbs that I placed on the ground to lure him. He rewarded me frequently with his delightful little bubbling song.
An American robin during a March ice-storm learned 100 that bread crumbs were to be found upon the window-sill of a house in Cleveland. He flew to the sill frequently. ”

“ Robins are so well loved for their cheery song, for their friendliness to man, and their red breasts coming as a touch of color in returning spring, that except where they are present in great numbers, there is little complaint of the fruit they eat, even without taking into account the good work they accomplish as insect eaters. ”

“ A robin’s nest is an untidy affair, but it is something that we should miss were it not a part of our environment. Few birds’ eggs are more lovely in color than those of the familiar robins’-egg blue, nestled in their grass-lined cup of clay. Olive Thorne Miller wrote of a clever robin that wished to build her nest during an almost rainless spring. ”

“ There never were such plump, cheerful, and obedient little Robins as these. Their father had them stay in the lower branches of the fir tree, within sight of the nest, and the mother watched them while he was hunting, and called down comforting things to them. When they had tumbles in trying to fly, she would say: “Never mind! Pick yourselves up! Robins must tumble before they can fly. After awhile, when I have finished hatching these eggs, you can come right up to this window ledge and see the babies.” ”

“ To the teacher.—The pupils should be given a few days in which to find out answers to these questions, and at the end of that time the answers should be discussed in the class.
Male robins have more pronounced colours than female robins. The beak is yellower, the breast is brighter, the back and the top of the head are darker. Robins both run and hop. The sense of sight of the robin is very acute, but its sense of hearing is even more keen. The bird may be observed turning its head to one side to listen for the sound of a worm which is still inside its burrow. ”

“ Almost every country house has one or two robins that specially belong to it, and very jealous they are of any strange birds that happen to come nigh the dwelling. While bird-nesting one time in company with another boy, we found a robin’s nest in a bank at the foot of a great ash tree. ”

“ The robin is a large bird, with black and brown head and wings; most of the rest of the body is of a dull, yellowish red. Of all our birds this is the least shy. He is brave and merry, and goes and comes as he pleases. Scarcely a month of the year passes without bringing the robin.
Robins seem equally happy in wood, field, garden or orchard. If they cannot find insects to eat, they will take fruit, berries, crumbs or seeds. If food grows scarce, they hop down to the door, and feed with the chicks, or expect a fine breakfast thrown out to them alone. ”

“ Robins are very easily made tame, and, when well treated and not shut up in a cage, they become fond of people and like to live in our houses. I know of a robin who was picked up from the ground by a lady. He could not fly, and she took him into a house and brought him up. He was never wild or afraid of people, and he never wanted to be free. ”

“ We wish him luck and hope no domestic besom may find him. The young lumpish robins that used to flutter heavily across the road, easily within grasp, fat paunches of feathers upon incapable wings—these are now strong of flight and cat-safe. ”

“ As the old robins, who were the hero and heroine of my tale, are made happy, it is time for me to put an end to it: but my young readers will doubtless wish to know the sequel of the history; I shall therefore inform them of it in as few words as possible. ”

“ These are the conditions in every normal robin family, so you can easily imagine how hard the father and mother birds must work to keep their fledglings' crops filled. No wonder robins like to live near our homes where the enriched land contains many fat grubs, and the smooth lawns, that they run across so lightly, make hunting for earth worms comparatively easy. ”

“ A nest of young robins in the maple in front of the house being fed by a chipping sparrow. The little sparrow is very attentive; seems decidedly fond of her adopted babies. The old robins resent her services, and hustle her out of the tree whenever they find her near the nest. ”

“ I'm sure you all know how he looks, with black head, slate-colored back and wings, streaked throat, and dull red or chestnut breast. His mate is not quite so dark in color.
Robins start for their nesting-place, which is their real home, very early, almost the first of the birds. They make a nest, not very high, in a tree or about our houses, with a good deal of mud in it. Not all nests are alike. Sometimes a bird will show a fancy for a pretty-looking nest. ”

“ Robins and Wrens.—The robin is considered a sacred bird: to kill one is little less than sacrilege, and its eggs are free from the destroying hand of the bird-nester. It is asserted that the respect shown to it by man is joined in by the animals of the wood. The weasel and wild cat, it is said, will neither molest it, nor eat it when killed. The high favour in which this bird is held is usually attributed to the ballad of The Babes in the Wood. ”

“ Up on the rocks again in the bright sunlight, one finds the land birds numerous, chief among which are the song sparrows. In the secluded peace of the place these also, evidently making their summer home here and nesting in the shrubbery that is all about, have lost most of their fear of man and will approach very near to gather crumbs about your feet. A small flock of robins goes by, stopping a moment to feed, then taking wing again as if practising for that southward migration which will begin before very long. ”

“ There will almost always be a bird's nest in the tree, and it is most likely to be a robin's nest. The prehistoric robins must have been cave dwellers, for they still make their nests as much like cellars as they can, though they follow the new fashion and build them aloft. One always has a thought of spring at the sight of a robin's nest. ”

“ A bird very much like the Robin Red-breast. The plumage is grey, with a yellowish-white breast. Robins are very tame birds, and can easily be made pets; they will often come into a tent. When I was camping in the forest, a pair came into my hut, ate off my plate, drank and bathed in my tin mug, sat on my dog’s back, and, when I did not get up by daybreak, actually pulled my beard and sat on my blanket. ”

“ You may remember, my young readers, that Frederick obtained from his mamma a promise that when the business of daily instruction was finished, he and his sister should go into the orchard in search of the robins. As soon, therefore, as the air was sufficiently cool she took them with her, and arrived just after the parent birds had taken their young ones back to the nest. Robin was then left by himself, and kept hopping about, and fearing no danger, got into the middle of the walk. Frederick descried him at a distance, and eagerly called out, "There's one of them, I declare!" ”

“ Robins, when they do not devour the sacs outright, carry them away, flying low with depressed head, and drop them a few rods from the nest, but are sometimes seen to peck at them after reaching the ground. ”

“ A writer in “A Masque of Poets” has described the cheer in the Robin’s song very well. Robin music has real melody and expression. Indeed, there are very few of our birds that have what might be called as great a vocabulary, or as many expressive notes, as has this familiar bird.
Nest: The nest of the Robin is built of grasses, rootlets and leaves. The interior is well lined or plastered with a layer of mud. Another layer of fine grass forms the bed upon which the greenish blue eggs are laid. These eggs are from three to five in number. Robins often raise two families each year. ”

“ All these tales show the Robin's generous heart, cheerful nature, and pious devotion, which make him beloved by men. But perhaps you do not know why he is called God's own bird.
sing the little English children, and they think it is very wicked to injure one of the holy birds or make her unhappy by robbing her nest of its pretty eggs.
This is why the Robin is called the good bird, God's bird. The oldest stories say that the little Christ-child used to feed most tenderly the Robins who hopped about the door of His mother's house, for they were dearest of all to His baby heart. ”

“ The nestlings were greatly pleased to find that Robin was likely to escape the dangers of the night, and even the anxious mother at length resigned herself to repose.
Before the sun showed his glorious face in the east, every individual of this affectionate family was awake: the father with impatience waited for the gardener's opening the tool-house; the mother prepared her little ones for a new excursion. ”

“ The Thrush, Lark, Blackbird, and Nightingale, and one or two choristers more. These are connected with the pheasants in their speckledness, and with the pies in pecking; while the nightingale leads down to the smaller groups of familiar birds.
6. The Robins, going on into the minor warblers, and the Wrens; the essential character of a Robin being that it should have some front red in its dress somewhere ”

“ Summon all your courage, for I make no doubt you will be safe while our friend continues his work, as none of those creature? which are enemies to birds will venture to come near him." Robin took a sorrowful farewell, and the mother flew to the nest. ”

“ They are about as large as robins, and have a braided work of black-and-gold to trim off their wings, and a broad black collar on their orange breasts. They appear to have a very agreeable consciousness of being in41 the finest possible condition. ”

“ But the birds come down to bathe every Midsummer Day, the goldfinches, and the sparrows, and the blackbirds, and the thrushes, and the swallows, and the wrens, and the robins, and almost every one of them, except two or three, whose great-grandfathers got into disgrace a long while ago. The rooks do not come because they are thieves, and steal the mussels, nor the crows, who are a very bad lot ”