An excerpt from "The First Robin"

Few mont' ago it happen

dat I'm goin' walk aroun',
Getting' ready for de ploughin'

is comin' on de spring,
An' soon I wait an' listen,

for I tink I hear de song
Of de firse, de early robin,

as he jus' begin to sing.
It was very, very lucky

w'en de firse wan come along-
An you see upon your farm

dere is de place de robin stop,
For de way dat bird is yellin',

is enough to scare de dead;...
~ Dr. William H. Drummond.

According to Wikipedia and the author's wife, this was based on a Quebec superstition that whoever sees the first robin of spring will have good luck. When I read this, I had to smile. My grandparents were all from Canada, and my father speech resembles how this is written.
RCB