128 CATALOGUE OF BIRDS. 



about our British pet, so familiar to all English 

 hearths and homes ? Well, you mightn't think it, 

 but he is the most pugnacious and domineering 

 of little birds. Often when feeding birds in hard 

 weather I have found that the Robin was best man 

 amongst them, driving all the rest away whilst he 

 remained champion of all around him. The species 

 is resident, widely distributed, but its numbers are 

 supplemented by a good many more which arrive 

 from the Continent during early winter. 



Howard Saunders says : " Southwards it breeds 

 throughout Europe down to the south of Spain, 

 North- Western Africa, the Caucasus, Madeira, and 

 the Azores ; eastwards across Russia to the Ural 

 Mountains ; its winter migrations extend to the 

 Sahara, Egypt, Palestine, Asia Minor, North- 

 western Turkestan. The nest, made of dead leaves 

 and moss, lined with hair and a few feathers, is 

 placed in a bank, holes of walls, amongst ivy, and 

 hollow trees ; whilst pages might be filled with 

 details of the extraordinary sites sometimes selected. 

 The eggs — five to six, are usually white, with light 

 reddish blotches, but sometimes they are pure white. 

 Nesting begins in March, two to three broods are 

 produced in the year. Its song is musical, but of 

 little compass. The food is mostly insects and 

 worms, but berries and fruit are by no means 

 despised." 



The specimen in the case was shot in Surrey, and 

 the idea of associating him with the Thrushes was 

 because their surroundings were suggestive of 



