. Bird legend and life . grubs and worms—and never seen to better ad-vantage are these touches of living color, that add charm toany landscape. In the midst of winter, on hearing the robinmentioned, this, in all probability, would be the mental pic-ture recalled by nine out of every ten persons. On bright sunny days, with a heart brimming over withspringtime, robin often perched on a swinging bough andallowed the joy of the season to gush from his throbbingthroat. Even in the rain he sang! His world was so full ofhappiness that he must needs express it whether the sunshone or not. While his so
. Bird legend and life . grubs and worms—and never seen to better ad-vantage are these touches of living color, that add charm toany landscape. In the midst of winter, on hearing the robinmentioned, this, in all probability, would be the mental pic-ture recalled by nine out of every ten persons. On bright sunny days, with a heart brimming over withspringtime, robin often perched on a swinging bough andallowed the joy of the season to gush from his throbbingthroat. Even in the rain he sang! His world was so full ofhappiness that he must needs express it whether the sunshone or not. While his song is not so musical as that ofmany another bird, it charms us because it speaks of cheer—even in the midst of cheerlessness. This rain-song usuallycontinued till the shower was over, when all the birds of thewoods repeated the glad news, then hurried off to anotherfeast; for the rainy hours were even more fruitful of wormsthan those of mere nocturnal dampness. After the laying of the blue eggs came the weary days156. Photograph by Francis H. Herrick ROBIN INSPECTING YOUNG ROBIN LIFE of incubation, bringing with them a recompense in the gladjoy of anticipation of the new young lives soon to fill the shared in the labor of keeping the eggs warm, as hedid later in that of providing food for the young family. When the nest was full of young there was little timefor him to devote to his music. His daylight hours, as wellas his mates, were spent in diligently providing for theirfamily, whose days were a continuous repast. As theyhopped about the lawn, looking and listening for worms,every withered blade of grass, every sound attenuated be-yond mortal hearing, was significant of that life in theunderworld which alone could satisfy the gustatory longingsof the babes in the nest. On returning from a foraging ex-pedition, our little robins always found their ravenous youngwith open bills ready to receive the fruit of their search. Twoor three times his own weight in worms
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Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookidbirdlege, booksubjectbirds
