THE A CCESTORIS. S.c 



THE ACCENTORS, 



RED AND BLUE BREASTS, RED AND 



BLACK STARTS. 



TT7"E liaro liere a group of tirds, wliich approach very noar to tlie 

 family Sylvince — Sylvine birds or warblers, on one hand, and to 

 the Saxicolince — Saxicoline birds, or chats, on the other; indeed to 

 the latter family MacgiUivray, and some others consider them to 

 belong. In their general habits and characteristics they are pretty 

 much aUke, although they differ considerably in appearance; they are 

 nil songsters, but not very loud or intrusive ones, and ah' insect 

 eaters, chiefly being what are called soft-billed birds, that is, with bills 

 anfitted for crushing any hard substances, such as grain, the larger 

 kind of seeds, which they do sometimes eat, although of vegetable 

 food they prefer berries. 



The two Accentors or Chanters, are the only British representa- 

 tives of a genus of the SaxicoILne family, and they, hke all the rest 

 of the group, are nearly allied to the Thrushes, which are great 

 fiTiit as well as seed and insect feeders. 



Prominent in the group, is a bird that will at once be recognized 

 as the cheeriest, sprightliest, pertest, and most pugnacious, yet withal 

 the most familiar and best beloved of all our feathered friends — 

 Robin Redbreast, of whom we shall have much to say presently; 

 he stands alone to represent the genus Erithacus, and his three 



K 



