THE KEDBEEAST. 97 



The habits of the Eedbreast are so well known, that to 

 describe them would be simply to write down what every 

 one has seen or may see. 



It generally builds its nest in a hole, near the bot- 

 tom of a hedge or under the stump of a tree, in an 

 ivy-clad wall, or amidst the creepers trained round the 

 verandah of a cottage. I have seen it also placed in a 

 niche in a wall intended for the reception of a vase, in 

 a bee-hive stored away on the rafters of an outhouse, and 

 under a wisp of straw accidentally left on the ground in a 

 garden. It is usually composed of dry leaves, roots, bents, 

 and moss, hned with hair and wool, and contains five or 

 six eggs. The young birds are of a brown tint, and have 

 the feathers tipped with yellow, which gives them a 

 spotted appearance. Until they acquire the red breast, 

 they are very unlike the parents, and might be mis- 

 taken for young Thrushes, except that they are much 

 smaller. They may be often observed in gardens 

 for many days after they have left the nest, keeping 

 together, perching in the bushes, and clamorous for food, 

 which the old birds bring to them from time to time. It 

 is said, that only one brood is reared in a year, but this I 

 am inclined to doubt, having observed in the same locality 

 families of young birds early in the spring, and late in the 

 summer of the same year. Towards the end of August, 

 the young birds acquire the distinctive plumage of their 

 species, and are solitary in their habits until the succeed- 

 ing spring. The call-notes of the Redbreast are numerous, 

 and vary beyond the power of description in written 

 words ; the song is loud, and it is needless to say, pleasing, 

 and possesses the charm of being continued when all our 

 other feathered songsters are mute. 



