Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1893-04-14
The AMERICAN ROBIN.
TDr Spencer Trotter In Pop. Sc. Monthly.


they found the frank, hearty bird with |
the russell breast ready to make friends
with them, to stay about the clearings |
and around their rough cabins, cheering |
them with the strong, hopeful song that
has ever gladdened the heart with its
vlgor and fullness of promise. With
what joy the pioneers must have well
coined the first spring that brought the
robins back after the long, dreary win
ter! TO this day the first robin of the
spring creates sensation, coming, as
he often does, amid the ice and the snow
and the rough wind, and not a leaf on
the trees. The early settlers called
him "robin" from his red breast, no
doubt and his conflding ways, after the
trusty little warbler so dear to their
hearts in the old home across the sea.
And so it has been "robin" ever since,
although our bird is but distantly related
to the little -redbreast of the Old
World, who belongs to the warblers-
another branch of the family.
ny NiituC VI OVlnS u ucil, Jul iOOiii
enjoys a very extensive range of country
for his habitat. From the Atlantic to
the Pacific, across the continent, from
the shores of the Arctic ocean to Mexico
and Central America, he is found abund-
antly, breeding throughout the forest
limits of this wide area, and building The
same nest of dried grass, roots, and
plastered mud about every homestead
in the land. Although bird of the
woodland, like all thrushes, he yet
prefers the garden and the orchard
even the trees that stand in the midst of
the bustling city hold his nest. Insecti-
vorous by nature, but varying his diet
largely with the small, wild berries of
the woods, the robin has become, since
mans invasion, a lover of fruit, keeping
pace with man in the cultivation of his
taste. The excellence of his taste
cannot be denied. He takes the biggest
cherries of the most approved varieties.
and the luscious strawberries ale his
delight. Yet for all the fruit he eats he
repays the hOrticulturist double by
devouring tbreefold more of insect-life
that would ultimately cover and destroy
the trees, leaf, root, and branch. Fortu-
nate it. is that we have recognized his
valuable service, and protected HIM by
legislation.
The true thrushes-and the robin may
be taken as type-present some very
interesting features in their develop
ment, characters, and geographical dis
tributiOn, study of which throws light
not only upon the history of the birds
themselves, but also upon several wide
ly different subjects.
The thrushes belong to the most high
ly organized group of birds-the Pass
ereS-and are fartherest removed in
structure from the early reptiloid forms
They possess the most complete vocal
apparatus-a syrinX-situated at the
lower end of the windpipe, with five in
trinsic pairs of muscles. The wing has
undergone reduction in the number OF
its primaries or quill-feathers growing
from the long fingers, there being ten Of
these, the first one short and abOrtiye
so that the thrushes may be looked up
on as still advancing toward the highest
type of wing-structure, tina. of nine
primaries. In conjunction with this, til,
foot or leg is shoot, ID. e., covered by
an unbrOken plate of hard leathery skin
not reticulated and scaled, as in Othel
forms. A decided change has also ia
ken place in the "molt'', or shedding o
feathers; autumnal mott being the ONLY
complete process, while the spring change
is effected simply by the casting of
of the broken points of feathers in tn,
worn plumage. The young of all thu
thrushes are spotted in their nesting
dress, but meyer carry 1t beyond thu
first autumn, assuming the full plum
age of the old birds after the first mott
so that "a bird of the year in the lat
: fall and winter is scarcely distinguish
i BILE from It's parents. Any one who i
familiar with young robins hoppin,
about the lawn in early summer, will
their spotted breasts and notified backs
may have wondered what became o
them by October.
In the New World the nearctic, o
North American region, possesses sever
al species of spotted-Dreasted thrushe
breeding throughout its forest area
Notable among these are the wood
thrush, whose mellow, ripping must
we know and love so well; the hermit
the olive-backed, the gray-cheeked, an
tawny housekeeping and fall m
grants passing through our woods i
May aud October
The thrushes are migratory birds i
the temperate zone, as the nature q
their food demands, partaking in tn
general north and south movement dul
inU the snrinO and fall tides Of uiOratior