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Rosie Alderson,



and that is why the Robin is always the companion of man when he

tills the ground “ by the sweat of his brow.”


It is many years now since we came to this old house, and

my earliest remembrance of a robin here is of one that made its

nest in a wall that was being built when the house was enlarged.

Possibly it was this same robin that was a special pet of the

gardener’s, and used to spend much of his time in the greenhouse,

finally building a nest there. Later came the nicest robin we

have ever had. His name was “ Bob,” and, though small, he was

very bright and graceful; a great contrast to “ Bess,” his mate,

She was a big bird, very heavily built, with a thick neck and a

stolid toad-like demeanour. We did not much care for her, for she

was a selfish bird and bullied “ Bob ” very much, whilst he was

devoted to her, and was always most chivalrous when it came to

that severe test of self-sacrifice—a mealworm.


Our garden is divided by an old yew hedge into two parts,

and “ Bob ” was a top garden robin, for, as you will probably have

noticed, Robins have each their own area, and to trespass is against

etiquette and safety. Robins are hard fighters, but they generally

seem to respect each other’s claims and so preserve peace.


In time “ Bob ” grew very tame. If my sister or I went in

the garden and held out a mealworm, simply calling “ Bob,” he

would come swinging down from some tall tree, and could take the

mealworm from our hand without alighting on the ground first.

“Bob” followed us all over the garden, and when w T e worked there

was always by us. In the nesting season he w T as very busy. I

forget how many meahvorms he could carry off in his beak at once,

but I think it was about six. He always held them by their heads,

and picked them up so that they stuck out alternately on each side of

his beak. He w T as always very particular hoiv he carried the meal¬

worms, and generally had a hard struggle over picking up the last

one, for he dare not open his beak wide for fear of dropping the

other worms. This accident sometimes happened, and then he

would patiently begin to gather them all over again, and having at

last succeeded lie would fly off with his pretty swinging flight to the

nest.


Of course, as you know, the cock Robin feeds the hen before



