TURDIN.B. 



37 



THE REDBREAST. 



Erithacus rubecula (Linnsus). 



The Redbreast, familiarly known as the Robin, is probably the 

 most characteristic of our British species ; for, in addition to the 

 early and legendary associations which combine to render it a 

 favourite, it is also a resident species, conspicuous from its bright 

 plumage. Generally distributed throughout the British Islands, it 

 has undoubtedly increased in the north with the spread of planta- 

 tions, and it is now found breeding in some of the Hebrides and 

 sparingly in the Orkneys, although as yet only a migrant in the Shet- 

 lands. In autumn the young are, to some extent, driven away and 

 forced to emigrate by their parents, who, in their turn, when pressed 

 for food in winter, resort to the vicinity of our dwellings, where 

 they are almost universally welcome. At this season numbers arrive 

 from the Continent : shunning the cold of the northern regions where 

 they have passed the summer, even within the Arctic circle. 



