. Animal snapshots and how made . or even three times a year, it will be seen thatthe resulting destruction in insects is, as I have said,incalculable. I have no doubt that the services ofthese birds, during the time they are engaged inrearing their young alone, would entitle them toprotection were the parents themselves to feed exclu-sively upon garden fruit for the whole period. Butat this time the diet of the old birds is very largely ofan animal nature; nor is this the only season duringwhich the destruction of insects goes on. Upon thefirst arrival of the main body of birds, early in spri
. Animal snapshots and how made . or even three times a year, it will be seen thatthe resulting destruction in insects is, as I have said,incalculable. I have no doubt that the services ofthese birds, during the time they are engaged inrearing their young alone, would entitle them toprotection were the parents themselves to feed exclu-sively upon garden fruit for the whole period. Butat this time the diet of the old birds is very largely ofan animal nature; nor is this the only season duringwhich the destruction of insects goes on. Upon thefirst arrival of the main body of birds, early in spring,long before any fruits are ripe, they throw themselvesinto the newly ploughed fields, and scatter overmeadows, lawns, and parks, in eager search for the 2o8 The Robin worms and grubs that, later in the season, wouldprove invincible to the agriculturist, were not theirravages thus stayed in advance by the friendly armyof robins. During the breeding season robins nest about thegarden and house, sometimes even on the vines grow-. ROBIN ON HER NeSX ing over the veranda. Th favorite place of nestingseems to be about old and neglected orchards, butnever have I found a nest in the deep woods. Therobin when not molested has little fear of man, andthe building of the nest and rearing of the youngcan be very carefully observed by any one. For The Robin 209 this reason this is one of the best of birds for theyoung ornithologist to begin to observe. A few years ago I interested one of nxy young boyfriends, who for two years past had been inclined torob birds nests, by making with him a careful andsystematic study of the robin. On April twelfth a pair of these birds was dis-covered building a nest in a. lilac bush close to thehouse, and but a few feet from the dining room nest had scarcely been begun when discovered,and I determined, for the sake of my young friend,to cultivate friendly relations between ourselves andthe robins. The female was a half albino, the wings beingpar
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, booksubjectani, booksubjectbirds
