Among the first of the spring, The notes of the Robin ring; With flute-like voice, He calls, “Rejoice, For I am coming to sing!” To any one gloomy or sad, He says, “Be glad! be glad! Look on the bright side, ’Tis aye the right side; The world is good, not bad.” At daybreak in June we hear His melody, strong and clear: “Cheer up, be merry, I’ve found a cherry; ’Tis a glorious time of the year!” —Garrett Newkirk, in _Bird-Lore_. [Illustration: ROBIN] “Our Robin is a big-bodied Thrush, whereas the Robin-redbreast, the Cock Robin of story, is more nearly akin in size and build to our Bluebird. If you want to see the family marks that yoke the Robin to his Thrush cousin, look carefully at the youngsters as they are leaving the nest, and you will see that instead of wearing plain brick-coloured breasts like the parents, they are striped like the Thrushes; this marking disappears after their first moult. As for Robin himself, you know him well, but can any of you tell exactly the colour of his clothing?” Sarah and Tommy raised their hands at the same time, but as ladies come first, Sarah began: “He is gray on top, and red underneath, and he’s got white spots outside of his wings.” “Very good, indeed,” said Gray Lady; “but can you add anything to that, Tommy?” “Yes, ma’am; he’s black on top of his head, and he’s got a white chin and eye spot and a yellow beak.” “Why, Tommy, that is really very good; I didn’t know that any of you children had learned to look so carefully and remember.” “I saw all that yesterday,” said Tommy, in a state of glee. “There came a flock of bran’-new fresh birds, and sat in the cedar bushes back of the barn, but they didn’t find many berries, because the winter birds have eaten them. Ma gave me some old cake to crumble up, and I put some on the top of the stone fence, and some right on the shed, and this morning when I first looked out, a couple of them were out there eating it, and I got a good square look at them. They liked that cake because it had currants in it.” “So Tommy is the first to report a ‘bran’-new’ Robin flock,” said Gray Lady. “Now that they have really come, will any of the others tell me what they know about Robins? Begin at Sarah’s end of the table.” “Robins build mud nests before there are any leaves to hide them, and cats often get them when they are sitting,” said Sarah; “and then by and by, when they build another nest, maybe they’ll put it out on a branch that’s weak, and when it storms and the nest gets wet and heavy, it falls down all of a lump. They seem to get along best when they come under the porch or get in a high up crotch.”