they ffll, since no law^ of "'(U'lCiit lturi;il" j(ovcriu-<| ilu- wilds. The iiij^'lu winds, 

 true to their instincts then as now, swirled the fallen leaves about any object in 

 their way. in tiic fashion of a burial shroud. .\s a matter of course, credit was 

 given to the robin, whose voracious appetite always led him to plunder litter of 

 any sort in search of food. I'p brij^ht and early, as is still his habit (since at this 

 hour he is able to waylay the belated nij(ht in>^ect), the robin was s])ied bestirriiifj 

 the fofest leaves, and unbeknown to himself was sainted for all time. 



And his duties were not confined to those of sexton alone, for, according to 

 good witnesses, he became both sculptor and clerg>'man — stripping, as they were 

 supposed to do. the foliage from the trees on which to write their elegies, and 

 so leaving the uncovered trunks as nioiuinuntal shafts. 



In rilgrim's Progress. Christiana is >aid to have been greatly astonished at 

 seeing a robin with a s])ider in its beak. Said she. "What a disjjaragcment it is to 

 such a littlr. ]irctt\ bird a^ tlii' rol)in-redl)reast is. hi- l)eing also a bird ab(jve many, 

 that loveth to maintain a kind of sociableness with man : \ had thougiit tliey ha<l 

 lived on crumbs of bread — I like him worse than I did." 



And the wordy-wist- I nti-rpreter. to clinch a moral lesson in the mind oi the 

 religious woman. ex])lained how the robins "when they are by themselves, catch 

 and gobble uj) spiders: they can change their diet (like the ungodly hypocrite), 

 drink ini(|uity. and swallow down sin like water. ' And so. obedient to her spiritual 

 adviser, Christiana liked the robin "worse than she did." Poor soul ; she should 

 have observed for herself that for a robiu to gobble up a spider is no "iniquity." 

 Did she think that crumbs grew^ on bushes, ready made for early breakfast, or 

 that the under side of woodland leaves was buttered to order? 



Spiders the robin must have, else how could he obtain the strings for his 

 harp? Wherever the spider spins her thread, there is her devotee, the robin. He 

 may not be seen to pluck and stretch the threads, but the source of them he loves, 

 and he says his best grace above this dainty of his board. Our pet robin was 

 know^n to stand patiently by the crack of a door, asking that it be opened wider, 

 as, in his opinion, a spider was hiding behind it. He heard her stockinged tread, 

 as he hears also the slippered feet of the grub in the garden sod — provided the 

 grubs have feet, which it is known they can do tolerably well without. 



Sure it is the world over, be he thrush or warbler, the robin is partial to 

 bread and butter; to bread thrice buttered if he can get it. l-'at of any sort he 

 craves. The more practical than sentimental believe that he uses it in the prepara- 

 tion of the "colors done in oil" with which he tints his breast. For lack of oil. 

 therefore, where it is not provided by his friends, or discovered by himself, his 

 breast is underdone in color, paling even to dusky hue : so that, would you have a 

 redbreast of deepest dye. be liberal witli his buttered bread. 



And his yellow mouth ! Ah, it is the color of spring butter when the dan- 

 delions are astir, oozing out. as it were, when he is very young, as if for suggestion 

 to those who love him. 



The historical wedding of Cock Robin to Jenny Wren was the result of 

 anxiety on the part of mutual friends who would unite their favorite birds. The 



795 



