518 Robin always sociable. 



Flora, ii. 229.) Yet, he has noted, in the same page, of D. 

 Mezereum, that the fruit (" berries ") is " the favourite food 

 of some species of finch, Loxia." S. D. W. has shown above, 

 from Herbert, that they are an object of food with the robin 

 too. " The berries of D. Laureola are poisonous to all 

 animals except birds." (De Candolle, quoted by Lindleym his 

 Introd. to the Nat. Syst. of Botany, p. 76.) 



All the green parts of the Clematis Flammula L., the species 

 which bears a profusion of small, white, very fragrant flowers, 

 and to be seen about many residences, is so acrid as, when 

 chewed by man, to inflame the interior of the mouth ; yet 

 JZelix aspersa, the common large garden snail, will feed upon 

 the foliage without scruple. Hence, the faculty of tasting 

 must differ in animals. — J. D. 



The Robin is a Species of Bird sociable even when not under 

 the Pressure of Necessity, as in Summer ; and not only when 

 under the Pressure of Necessity in Winter. — It is stated by 

 several authors, and among them Fleming, that, on the ap- 

 proach of the vernal season, the redbreast, forsaking the abodes 

 of man, wings his way to the woods. Knapp says {Journal 

 of a Naturalist), " It [the redbreast] slights and forgets our 

 kindnesses the moment it can provide for itself, and is away 

 to its woods and its shades." On the contrary, redbreasts 

 about here [near Derby] continue as familiar through the 

 summer as during the winter (perhaps owing to our not per- 

 secuting them ; for, although they commit, like the greater tit 

 and blue tit, a good deal of harm in a garden, yet we think 

 that their insectivorous services and interesting habits far out- 

 weigh the damage caused by the innocent little depredators), 

 and make no scruple of entering the house at any window 

 which may be open, and at any time that suits their conve- 

 nience ; and never find their confidence abused. A short 

 time since, one perched upon an inkstand, and overthrew the 

 ink. The sly little rogue, as if aware of the harm he had done, 

 immediately flew away : in about ten minutes, however, he 

 returned, and poured forth his sweetest notes, as if to disarm 

 ill-will. A friend informs me, that, while sitting in a room 

 with another person, a redbreast entered, and, after hopping 

 about for some time, actually perched on his knee. — S. D. W. 

 Near Derby, Nov. 22. 1834-. 



Fishes. — Sea Fishes are often best killed by Immersion in 

 Fresh Water : they then die in convulsions, with their fins ex- 

 tended; just as they should be represented in drawings. {Lans- 

 down Guilding. St. Vincent, May I. 1830. He had made 

 the note in relation to p. 123. of Vol. II.; in this page, and 

 others before and after it, Dr. Drummond on the poisonous 

 effects of fresh water on some sea animals and plants.] 



