New Britain herald. [microfilm reel] (New Britain, Conn.) 1890-1976, 1915-08-14
THE ROBIN by
MISS SARA CARROLL
Paper Read Before Stanley Quar-
ter Bird Club

1t seems almost superfluous to write
is as familiar to most of us, as a
chicken, yet how can this nearest of
our bird neighbors be passed without
reference? He was proba bly, the very
Ilrst bird we learned to call by name.
The early English colonists Who had
doubtless been brought up, like the
rest of us on 1.-The Babes in the Wood"
named the bird after the only heroes
in that melancholy tale, but in reality
the American robin is a much larger
bird than the English robin red-breast
and less brilliantly colored. John
Burroughs calls him of all our birds
the most native and democratic.'
There is an old Breton legend which
accounts for the coloring Of the rob-
ms breast as follows; "On seeing the
suffering of our Lord on the Cross,
the robin in pity plucked thorn
from the torturing crown. The blood
from the tender heart of the robin
gushed forth as the sharp thorn en-
tered his own breast producing the
crimson stain that remains to this
day"
If you will watch the bough of an
old apple tree you will see him hop
ping about and often very, very early
! in the morning you will hear him sing
ing, cheerily, cheer up, cheerily cheer
up. What better advice could be CIV
en- one to start the day on? He Ger
tainly is worth saving for his beauty
and good cheer, alone.
Besides being a general good fellow
Robin is a ost useful and Industrious
citizen Mrs. Robin demands very
fine grasses with which to line her
coy nest, and, when the baby robins
arrive they have such enormous appe-
tites that it keeps both Mr.. and Mrs.
Robin on the jump to supply their
steady demand for fresh earth worms.
Have you ever watched Robin
strutting across the lawn as if the
whole world belonged to him: And
have you ever noticed how deity he
pounces on and literally drags the long
worm out of the ground? Indeed, he
should be the envy of every youthful
fisherman who longs for good bait but
docs not like the work of digging for
it.
biologists say that young
robin in the nest requires a daily su -
ply Of animal food equivalent to COZ
siderably more than it's own weight,
and SO we can form some idea Of The
good that even baby robins do. Robins
include in their daily menu: white
grubs, beetles, cutworms, grasshop-
pers, crickets, moths, ants, wasps, cat
erpillars, larvae of the gypsy moth,
| the brown tail moth, the forest tent
moth, canker worms, leaf eating and
wood boring beetles, wire worms, and
army moths. In fact, it has been not
ed that when robins are scarce the ar
my worms advances. Most labore1s
! ask more than their board and lodging
| for their toll. The robin only asks for
I food and shelter for all is useful sec-
vices in eliminating the above pests,
and for these he hustles himself
In satisfying their own hunger,
birds, perform an important service to
| man for Notwithstanding the fact that
the acreage under cultivation in the
United States is larger than ever be-
fore and that he crops are greater tho
cost of fOOdstuffs continually mounts
upward, meanwhile the destruction #
farm and orchard crops by insects
amounts to millions each year and if
any part of this loss can be prevented
it will be clear gain. The protectio
of insectivorous birds is one of the
most effective means of preventing
much of this unnecessary loss and
the public is rapidly awakening to
the Importance of this form of conser-
vation
Every family of birds plays its own