My sister climbed up and put the now empty nest back in place, hoping that the robins might return and perhaps lay one or two more eggs. They've spotted the female robin fluttering around it a couple of times, but so far she hasn't stayed. A sad ending to the boys' hopes of watching a family of robins hatch.
On a lighter note, here's a poem by Emily Dickinson about an encounter between a robin and a cat which has a happier ending- for the bird, anyway.
She sights a Bird — she chuckles --
She flattens — then she crawls --
She runs without the look of feet --
Her eyes increase to Balls --
Her Jaws stir — twitching — hungry --
Her Teeth can hardly stand --
She leaps, but Robin leaped the first --
Ah, Pussy, of the Sand,
The Hopes so juicy ripening --
You almost bathed your Tongue --
When Bliss disclosed a hundred Toes --
And fled with every one --