Democratic Sentinel, Volume 6, Number 3, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 February 1882 — Do Robins Get Intoxicated. [ARTICLE]

Do Robins Get Intoxicated.

A New York sporting paper some time since stated that the robin does not show himself much in Southern latitudes until the berry of the China tree is ripe, and then partakes of it liberally, becomes intoxicated from the alcoholic quality of the berry, and often falls to the ground in an unconscious state. The Atlanta Constitution defends the bird against this slander, as follows: Observation has convinced us that the antics of the robins are the result of

suffocation, and not intoxication. The cenfonnation of the. bird’s neck is such that food must pass directly across the windpipe to reach its destination, and in the case of a china berry this journey is rather troublesome to the bird. The berry lodges against the windpipe, and the attempts to swallow it result in suffocation. It is then the bird falls from the tree, and his efforts to swallow the berry have the appearance of drunkenness. Generally the bird recovers, but sometimes it is choked to death. The suffocated birds may be relieved by merely pressing the berry past the windpipe.