Show roberi on 0 redbreast I 1 st acts I 1 a al scandalously in za T le ax W the south many ot of his bis northern friends will be shocked to learn that robin redbreast leads a double ufa well dressed jaunty brimming over with good nature devoted to his wife and babies he la Is a model of respectability its true we do not like to share with him our very earliest peas and choicest cherries but he be Is so great a favorite gild and his thieving Is carried on with such calm assurance that we readily forgive ile he has no enemies but the family cat all this here at home when robin goes south for his bis winter vacation he be Is 16 tempted and falls it happens in this way in december and january the robins find on the gulf coast a climate that suits them they also find an ornamental tree hearing bearing a hard yellow berry about as large as a small pea china berries of which they are extremely fond now the china berry while innocent in appearance is a very dangerous food for robins it contains some narcotic principle that affects a robin just its as alcohol affects a man it makes robin drunk and when he ls is drunk he acts precisely like a drunken man exhilarated at first he dances about and singe in a leont go 90 hatae till morning sort of way this happy condition is soon followed by a drunken stupor the bright eyes grow dull tho the head droops and the bird loses all tease ot of danger while in this stupid state the negro boys easily pick the birds from the low branches where they are perched hed after a little littie the birds recover but only to hunt bunt more china berries As long as there ore are china berries robin is consistently and persistently drunk ile he apparently eats the berries for the single purpose of 0 getting drunk and because he be likes it ile he hungry tor for he Is gorged with the berries to such an ex tt bat pit that when as sometimes happens he misses his drunken hold and falls to the ground ho he bursts open so stuffed ll Is he now it must not be thought that ven even a robin can undergo this sor ot of debauch for a month or six weeks without its having some effect on him robin soon loses hla his self respect grows ragged neglects his bath and appears generally disreputable he la Is a very sad looking bird and northern visitors who dont know about china berries cant understand what has bs caused the change ile he reforms when he must thit that Is when the china b br arjes are all gone but until then he apparently parent ly never thinks of it with tho the disappearance of the china berries the birds begin to think ot of their northern homes their family duties and a more prosaic but healthful diet of strawberries and angle worms in february they gather in countless thousands in the cane brakes of tennesse Ten nease and alabama apparently waiting only for warmer weather before beginning their migration at this season the visitor from the north who would about as soon think of eating the pet canary finds robin pie a common dish on oil southern tables on inquiring he ha learns that the robins are slaughtered by the thousands men with porchea and clubs visit the roosts boosts by night and knock the dazed birds off their perches in great numbers they are brought to market in grain sacks the writer heard of 0 one mm man bringing into marn mari ket at one time dozen a single nights murderous work the robins are sold on the streets tor for from 29 20 cents to 30 cents a dozen there la is no law against tho the wholesale slaughter but many people in the south are ara interesting te themselves in securing g su such ch legislation as will put a stop to it one reason rea son for the indifference arence with which ou our favorite Is regarded Is that he Is if only a winter visitor and compete as a song bird with the cardinal and the mocking bird both of which chic are common and great favorites much muc of this pot hunting is done by negro egl tor for sport the robins are also choti abot but the slaughter in this way Is small compared with the wholesale destruct tion of the torch and the club de dei i jolt free press |