TURDIN.B. 



37 



THE REDBREx-\ST. 



Erithacus ruhecula (Linnaeus). 



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 the Hebrides and the Ork- 

 neys, although not as yet in the Shetlands. In autumn the young 

 are driven away and forced to migrate 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. 



The Redbreast has been observed in May on the island of Jan 



