CanÌƒon City record. [volume] (CanÌƒon City, Colo.) 1883-192?, 1901-06-13
ROBIN ON A TEAR.
REDBREAsT ACTS SCANDAL
OUSLY IN THE SOUTH.
rhs Birds In the Gulf Coast Country
Get Drunh the Chin. berries
nssa. pie = Common Dish Southern
Tables

Many OF his northern friends will be
shocked to learn that Robin Red
breast leads double life. Well
dressed. jaunty. brim ming over with
good nature. devoted to his wife and
babies. he is a model of respectability.
It's true we do not like to share with
him our very earliest peas and choicest
cherries. but he is SO great a fayorite
and his thieving is carried on with
such calm assurance that we readily
forgive. He has no enemies but the
family cat. All this here at home.
When Robin goes south for his win
ter vacation he is tempted and falls.
II happens in this way: In December
and January the robins find on the
gulf coast a climate that suits them.
They also find an ornamental tree
bearing a hard, yellow berry about as
large as a small pea-China berries
OF which they are extremely fond
Now. the China berry. while innocent
In appearance. is a very dangerous
food for robins. IL contains some mar
cote principle that affects a robin Just
as alcohol affects a man. 1t makes
Robin drunk. and when he is drunk he
n
Erhilarated at first. he dances about
and sings in won't-go-home-till-
morning sort of way. This happy
condition is soon followed by drunk
en- stnpor-the bright eyes grow dull.
the head droops. and the bird loses
all sense Of danger. While in this
stupid state the negro boys easily pick
the birds from the low branches.
where they are perched. After a lit
tie the birds recover. but only TO hunt
more China berries. ~ long as there
are China berries Robin is consistently
and persistently drunk. He apparent
iy eats the berries for the single pur-
pose of getting drunk and because he
likes IL He isn't hungry. for he is
gorged with the berries TO such an ex-
tent that when. as sometimes happens.
be misses his drunken hold and falls
TO the ground he bursts open so stuff
fed ls he. Now II must not b. thought
that even a robin can undergo this sort
OF debRuch for n month or six weeks
without its having some effect on him.
Robin soon loses his self-respect.
grows ragged negiects his bath, and
appears generally disrep1table. He is
. very sad-looklng bird. and northern
visitors who don't know about China
berries can't understand what has
caused the change. He reforms when
he must-that is. when the China ber-
riss are all gone. but until then he ap-
parcntly never thinks of IT. With the
disappearance of the China berries the
birds begin to think Of their northern
- g. sfN,sHa rrNn- -
prosaic but healthfui diet OF straw
berries and angle worms- In February
they gather in countless thousands in
the cane brakes OF Tennessee and Ala
bama. apparently waiting only for
warmer weather before beginning their
migration. At this season the visitor
from the north. who would about as
soon think OF eating the pet canary.
finds s'robin pie a common dish on
southern tables. On inquiring he
learns that the robins are slaughtered
by the thousands. Men with torches
and clubs visit the roosts by night and
knock the dazed birds OF their perches
In great numbers. They are brought
to market in grain sacks. The writer
heard of one man bringing into mar
ket at one time $50 dozen. a single
nights murderous work. The robins
are sold on the streets for from 20
cents to 30 cents a dozen. There Is no
law against the Wholesale slaughter.
but many people in the south are In
teresting themselves in securing such
legislation rs will put a stop to II. One
reason for the indifference with which
our favorite is regarded is tina; he is
only winter visitor and doesn't COM
pete as song bird with the cardinal
and the mocking bird, both OF which
are common and great favorites. Much
OF this pot hunting is done by negroes
for srort. The robins are also shot.
but the slaughter in this way is small
eonrared with the wholesale destruc-
tion O: the torch and the club.-De-
troit Free Press.