THE PERCHING BIRDS. 139 



fill that the hen dei^osited some ten or eleven eggs, I 

 forget which ; but here my success ended, as the new- 

 comers were none of the coveted type. At last I gave up 

 the attempt, and left her the normal half-dozen to sit on. 



As regards the migrations of this bird, they are, it is 

 generally believed, confined for the most part to season- 

 able journeyings for favourite food from one part of the 



country to another. It is also known, however. 

 Migrations. , . , i -n i • i ^i 



that intense cold will drive a number across the 



Channel. Human brutality has for some reason or other — 

 a relic maybe of earlier suj^erstitions — stayed its hand at 

 the robin, the result being that the bird is trustful and 

 slow to take alarm. There is every reason to suppose 

 that the other birds might have given us their friendship) 

 in exchange for kind treatment in lieu of small-shot and 

 bird-lime. 



The food of the redbreast varies with the season, and 

 few birds adapt themselves more readily to w^hatever is 

 handy. AVorms and flies, fruits, wild or cul- 

 tivated, seeds and grain, each have their turn. 

 Then at length, when the ground is snowbound, the bird 

 reaps the benefit of its familiarity with man, and gets 

 crumbs from the table. As it is quite the most quarrel- 

 some and pugnacious of our smaller birds, not even the 

 bully sparrow cares about crossing it. Its conspicuous 

 red breast, as well as the low undulating flight, render 

 it impossible to confuse this with any other British bird. 

 The young, which the parents soon drive oft" to cater for 

 themselves, are speckled like thrushes. 



The nest of the redbreast is usually in the ground, pref- 

 erably half-way up the side of a grassy bank. I have 

 also found it in another very common jDOsition 



, . ' ., — namely, the thickest part of fac!:got-heaps : 

 nestmg-sites. . . . . ^ 



and it is a curious fact that it generally selects 

 those most recently stacked. The eccentric choice of situa- 

 tion often shown by this bird is so well known, and has 

 been the theme of so many writers, that it needs but 



