Robins (Draw-a-Bird Day)

The sun burns down
And something plucks my garment’s hem.
The robins in their faded brown
Would lure me to the south with them.
–Bliss Carman, “The Vagabonds”

European settlers in America called this bird a robin because it was red-breasted like the robin they knew from home.  But the European robin is a much smaller bird, a member of the flycatcher family; the larger American robin belongs to the thrush family.  Their songs are also quite different.

Bliss Carman is a Canadian poet who attended Harvard and spent much of his life in New England.  He became well-known in the 1890s for the Vagabondia poems, written with Richard Hovey.  A distant relative of Emerson, his verse often reflects the natural world.

Robin was the next bird on my childhood bird list.  Although known as harbingers of spring in the North, not all robins go south for the winter.

And last, but not least, I drew Roger, the beanie baby robin (Ty called it “Early”).  Roger belongs to my younger daughter’s doll Lily.  If you spend any time around children (or remember your own childhood), you know that favorite toys have elaborate stories and biographies attached to them.  Even though my daughter is grown up, Lily and Roger continue to inhabit our house.  Yes, that’s a baseball glove on his wing…

Laura at CreateArtEveryday has passed the Draw-a-Bird Day (the 8th of each month) baton to Nina and me.  Link your bird drawings in the comments, and we’ll put together a compilation of birds next week!