The Robin
Source:
What Shall We Do Now?: Five Hundred Games And Pastimes
Category:
PETS
In the ordinary way one would not keep robins at all. They are so tame
and fond of the company of human beings that they will come regularly
to the door for crumbs every morning and never be far off at any time.
But if a wounded robin is found or a nest is abandoned (probably owing
to the death of the mother at the cat's hands) just before the young
birds are ready to fly, you might pop them in a cage. They do not
often thrive long in captivity, even if the confinement does not seem
irksome, but to keep one until it was strong enough to be let loose
would be a kindness. Still there have been many cases of happy tame
robins. The best food for them is bread crumbs, grated carrot, yoke of
egg and sponge-cake mixed together, the carrot making the mixture
moist enough. A few insects daily are advisable. Robins are such
quarrelsome birds that it is impossible to keep two of them in an
aviary, or even to keep one robin with birds weaker than himself.
Perhaps the best way to treat a pet robin is to let him fly all over
the house in the winter. He may one day fly away altogether in the
spring, but if he is alive he is almost certain to come back again
when the cold weather begins.
Next:
Garden Robins
Previous:
The Blackbird
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