The Birmingham age-herald., 1921-03-03
M E N, w o M FEN
 A ND T HIN G s

loving roet, Wordsworth, gives me a chance to start my story by calling at- tention to the fact that robin, a name originally applied in England to the red- breast, is different from our American one, the nearest ally of the English red breast being the blue bird.
 The English robin is more like a warb- Ter than thrush, and is not as large as his American namesake, and not so fam ingly colored; the upper parts being olive green; the forehead, sides of the head front of the neck and fore part of the breast are yellowish-red (whence the name red-breasD.
 Oliver Wendell Holmes noted the dir- ference between the two by saying: "A strange world where the robin was a little domestic bird that fed at the table instead of great, fdgety, jerky, WI coping thrush. Our American rcbin, being called also red-breasted thrush ml- gratory thrush and robin red-breast. 1 If you doubt the robins being a thrush all you have to do is to watch him in his babyhood, for then the dark speckles on his plump little yellowish- white breast are prominent thrush-iike markings. which gradually fade, however, as he grows old enough to put on a brick red vest like his fathers The red- breasted or migratory thrush of North America, being one of the most abun- dant and familiar of North American birds.
 The English robin is only about five and half inches long and nine in ex- tent of wing, while the American red breast is 10 inches long and Is in extent of wing. The upper parts are slate color with an olive shade; most of the under parts are chestnut red; the vent feathers are white, with dark markings; the head is black with white markings about the eyes and white streaks on the throat; and the tail is blackisn usually outer feathers. The bill is mostly yellow. The robin is a common figure ill Eng glish nursery tales and folklore. The verse known by every child which be-
 
 household favorite. The English cock robin, bird as familiar at least in story as our own red-breast, because 1t was he who was killed by the sparrow with the bow and arrow, and it was he who covered the babes in the wood, as IT have pointed out, is much smaller than our robin, even smaller than a spar row, and he is not thrush at all as are ours
 Well, you ask, how in the world did our larger and more brilliant bird get the name. It's easy to answer. The hero of the story books in the old country had red-breast, and the English coIonists who settled this continent named our big, cheerful lusty bird neighbor a robin. simply because he brought back to them with his red breast memories of the wee little bird at home that they had loved when they were children.
 Just as is the English robin an abun- dant and familiar bird, widely distrib- uted in other parts of the Palearctic re- gions, so the American robin inhabits the whole of North America. Even on the European continent the robin is dis tributed over the whole area, although it is rare in Russia Gts cheery notes drowned in the ravens croak of bolspev- ism). Its habitat extends even into north ern Africa. Certain other species occur in eastern Europe and Asia.
 In England the robin red-breast is the most popular of all birds, and is par ticularly associated with Christmas time { But with us in the south he does not put in his appearance in time for us to as- sociate him with the festive holiday spirit The robin is very friendly to- wards man, and particularly is this true of the English variety, generally build- ing in the garden near the house.
 This same thing is true in America, as can be seen from the following incident told by James Russell Lowell:
 'I once had chance to do a kindness to household of robins, which they re- ceived with very friendly condescension, had my eye for some time past upon a nest and was puzzled by constant fluttreing of what seemed full-grown wings in it whenever drew near. At last climbed the tree, in spite of the angry protests from the old birds against my intrusion. The mystery had very simple solution. In building the nest long piece of pack thread had been some what loosely woven in, three of the young had contrived to entangle themselves in it, and had become full-grown without being able to launch themselves into the air One was unharmed; another had so tightly twisted the cord about it's shank that one foot was curied up and seemed paralyzed; the third, in it's struggles to escape, had sawed through the flesh of the thigh. and so much harmed himself that I thought 1t nu- mane to put an end to it's misery.
 ''When I took my knife to cut their hempen bonds. the heads of the family sened to divine my friendly interest. Sud- denly ceasing their cries and thyeats, they perched quietly within reach of my hand and watched me in my work or manumission This, owing to the fiut- tering terror of the prisoners, was an ar- fair of. some delicacy; but ere long 1 was rewarded by seing ono of them fly away to a neighboring tree. while the cripple. making a parachute of his wings, came lightly to the ground and horped off as we'll as he could upon one leg, obsequiousy waited upon by his elders. A week later I had the satis- faction of meeting him in the pine waik