"Oh! oh!" chirped the robin; "you are very kind, Phyllis, but I hardly think you would know how to feed bird babies.
"You see our babies are so fond of bugs and worms and all sorts of insects, that they do not care for crumbs when they can have nice fat worms.
"We sometimes feed berries and cherries to our babies. We older birds often eat fruit, but really we like worms and bugs better."
"The robins ate all the cherries from the top of our cherry-tree last year," said Phyllis.
"Yes, we did eat some of your cherries," admitted the robin. "They were very sweet and juicy.
"There are people who say that we robins are a nuisance, and that we destroy so much fruit that they wish we would never come near them. The fact is, we do more good than harm to your orchards and berry patches. Just think how many insects we destroy! If it were not for us I think much more fruit would be destroyed by insects. And worms and caterpillars would be crawling everywhere.
"A robin is a very greedy fellow. He eats nearly all the time. I could not begin to tell you how many insects I have eaten during my life.
"There are cutworms, too, which live underground. During the night they come out for food. We robins are early risers, and often catch the slow worms before they can get back to their underground homes."
"Ah," laughed Phyllis, "that must be the reason that we say that the early bird catches the worm."
"When our babies come," said the robin, "we are very busy, indeed. Those young mouths seem always to be open, begging for more food.