trelsy are alike,
and their markings, too, so far as ordinary observation goes. The
carolling of the two varieties is similar, so far as I could
discern--the same cherry ringing melody, their voices having a like
propensity to break into falsetto, becoming a veritable squeak,
especially early in the season before their throat-harps are well tuned.
With his powerful muscles and wide stretch of wing the robin is
admirably adapted to the life of a mountaineer. You find him from the
plains to the timber-line, sometimes even in the deepest canyons and on
the most precipitous mountain sides, always the same busy, noisy, cheery
body. One day I saw a robin dart like a meteor from the top of a high
ridge over the cliffs to the valley below, where he alighted on a
cultivated field almost as lightly as a flake of snow. He--probably she
(what a trouble these pronouns are, anyway!)--gathered a mouthful of
worms for his nestlings, then dashed up to the top of the ridge again,
which he did, not by flying out into the air, but by keeping close up to
the steep, cliffy wall, striking a rock here and twig there with his
agile feet to help him in rising. The swiftness of the robin's movements
about the gorges, abysses, and precipices of the mountains often
inspires awe in the beholder's breast, and, on reflection, stirs him
with envy. Many nests were found in the Georgetown valley, in woodsy and
bushy places on the route to Gray's Peak as far as the timber-line, in
the neighborhood of Boulder, in the Platte River Canyon, in South Park,
and in the Blue River region beyond the Divide. Some of the nests
contained eggs, others young in various stages of plumage, and still
others were already deserted. For general ubiquity as a species, commend
me to the American robin, whether of the eastern or western type.
Wherever found he is a singer, and it is only to be regretted that--

"All will not hear thy sweet, out-pouring joy
That with morn's stillness blends the voice of song,
For over-anxious cares their souls employ,
That else, upon thy music borne along
And the light wings of heart-ascending prayer,
Had learned that Heaven is pleased thy simple joys to share."

[Illustration: _Western Robin_

"_Out-pouring joy_"]

In Georgetown, Silver Plume, and other mountain towns the lovely
violet-green swallow is frequently seen--a distinctly western species
and one of the most richly apparelled birds of the Rockies. It nests