The robin[5] (fig. 2), in many parts of the country one of the most cherished of our birds, is found throughout the States east of the Great Plains, and is represented farther west and south by slightly different subspecies.[6],[7] It breeds far north through Canada, and is found even in Alaska. Although the great bulk of the species leaves the Northern States in winter, a few individuals remain in sheltered swamps, where wild berries furnish abundant food. The robin is an omnivorous feeder and its food habits have sometimes caused apprehension to the fruit grower, for it is fond of cherries and other small fruits, particularly the earlier varieties. For this reason many complaints have been lodged against the bird, and some persons have even gone so far as to condemn it. It is, however, far too valuable to be exterminated, and choice fruit can be readily protected from its depredations. [5] _Planesticus migratorius._ [6] _Planesticus migratorius propinquus._ [7] _Planesticus migratorius achrusterus._ Examinations of 1,236 stomachs show that 42 per cent of its food is animal matter, principally insects, while the remainder is made up largely of small fruits or berries. Over 16 per cent consists of beetles, about one-third of which are useful ground beetles, taken mostly in spring and fall when other insects are scarce. Grasshoppers make up about 5 per cent of the whole food, but in August they comprise 17 per cent. Caterpillars form about 9 per cent, while the rest of the animal food, about 11 per cent, is made up of various insects, with a few spiders, snails, and angleworms. All the grasshoppers, caterpillars, and bugs, with a large portion of the beetles, are injurious, and it is safe to say that noxious insects comprise more than one-third of the robin’s food. Vegetable food forms 58 per cent of the stomach contents, over 42 per cent being wild fruits and only a little more than 8 per cent being possibly cultivated varieties. Cultivated fruit amounting to about 25 per cent was found in the stomachs in June and July, but only a trifle in August. Wild fruit, on the contrary, is eaten every month and constitutes a staple food during half the year. No less than 65 species of fruit were identified in the stomachs; of these, the most important were 4 species of dogwood, 3 of wild cherries, 3 of wild grapes, 4 of greenbrier, 2 of holly, 2 of elder; and cranberries, huckleberries, blueberries, barberries, service berries, hackberries, and persimmons; together with 4 species of sumac and various other seeds not strictly fruit.