266 ERITHACUS RUBFX'ULA. 



farm-houses, you meet here and there with the ever welcome 

 and familiar Redbreast, who since the end of April had dis- 

 appeared, having betaken himself to the woods and thickets, 

 where, no doubt, he has passed a busy and a happy season. 

 Now, he revisits his w^inter haunts, where, in the vicinity of 

 human habitations, he finds a more ample supply of worms, 

 pupfE, and insects, than occurs in the fields and pastures. 



The ordinary attitude of the Robin is very similar to that of 

 the Song Thrush. There he stands under the hedge, as if lis- 

 tening, or surveying the neighbourhood, his body inclined, his 

 wings drooping, his head a little raised, and his full and humid 

 eye beaming with a mild lustre. Now he starts, hops forward 

 a short w^ay, picks up something which he has spied, resumes 

 his former attitude, observes a worm partially protruded and 

 wriggling among the grass, attacks it, and wrenches offa good- 

 ly piece, which he divides into morsels and swallows. And 

 thus he goes on all day, taking matters quite coolly, seldom 

 appearing in a hurry, but gleaning the small dainties which 

 the bounteous hand of providence has spread around for his 

 use. When disturbed, he flies into the hedge, or perches on 

 the wall, where he stands a while, and then perhaps amuses 

 himself with a sweet little song. 



The flight of the Robin is usually rapid, direct, and without 

 undulations, never performed at a great height, but generally 

 by short starts from hedge to bush, or from wall to railing. At 

 all seasons, when the weather is fine, it may occasionally be 

 heard chanting its short, mellow, and enlivening song. It is 

 quite solitary in winter, two individuals being seldom seen to- 

 gether, and it scarcely ever mingles with other species, even 

 the Hedge Chanter, its nearest neighbour. Indeed, it has a 

 sort of dislike to other small birds, which it sometimes attacks 

 and generally puts to flight. Even the House Sparrow, stout 

 as it is, cannot withstand its onset, but is glad to escape from 

 so troublesome a little fellow. 



But pert and forward as he is, in ordinary times he is not 

 perfectly disposed to trust to man; for the Hedge Chanter and 

 the Sparrow generally allow a much nearer approach. Yet, 

 when his wants are urgent, during protracted hunger caused by 



