THE ROBIN. 265 
about to lift it up when, judge of my surprise, I pulled out from under the 
bank a second Robin that had evidently, when conquered, tried to seek 
safety by squeezing under the bank, also in the water. Both birds, 
like two warriors bold, were locked in deadly embrace, the one first seen 
being entangled in the breast-feathers of its antagonist by its claws; their 
plumage, too, was all wet and ragged, and they had lost many feathers. 
After keeping them for a short time, I restored them to liberty: the 
victorious one, I should say, flew quickly off, while its greatly exhausted 
antagonist just managed to gain a thick bush and was soon lost to view.” 
Other instances of this bird’s pugnacity might be given. 
The Robin is a bird of the underwood, the thicket, and the hedgerow, 
and very similar in his peculiar shadow-like movements to the Hedge- 
Accentor ; and, like that bird, he often frequents heaps of old wood in the 
farmyard, disused outbuildings, and heaps of hedge-clippings and other 
rubbish. Like the Accentor, the Robin hops from his cover into the 
open, and retires just as quickly and gracefully if disturbed. The Robin’s 
flight is rarely indeed taken at any great elevation in the air, except whilst 
performing its annual wanderings, and is somewhat irregular if continued 
for any great distance. The Robin, however, seldom flies far, and always 
prefers to hide and creep through the branches and seek safety in the under- 
growth and densest parts of its haunts to using its wings as a means of 
escape from impending danger. We certainly have not in Britain a more 
trustful little bird than the Robin; and, in the winter especially, he seems 
to know that man is his friend and protector. 
The food of the Robin is varied a little according to the season of the 
year. During all the “ open” months it lives on the smaller earthworms 
and various kinds of insects and their larve, obtaining the former food 
much after the manner of the Thrushes, and much of the latter as the 
Flycatchers and the Titmice. When the early gardening is going on, he 
attends the gardener ; and ever and anon gliding quickly from his perching- 
place to the newly-turned earth, he takes the worms thrown upon the 
surface. In the bright sunny mornings, or in the cool grey dawn soon 
after sunrise, he is at work amongst the withered leaves and under the 
shrubs and garden-plants, seeking his morning meal, occasionally sallying 
out from a favourite perch to take the insects that are flitting in countless 
thousands in the air around. The Robin also explores nooks and crannies 
for larve, and will search for insects in the expanding buds, like the 
Finches or the Tits. Again, in fruit-time, when the summer is fast pass- 
ing away, the Robin eats the cherries, currants, and other garden-fruits ; 
while the Robin of the woods and fields makes a meal upon the various 
soft, luscious, wild fruits and berries. In winter, when insect food is 
scarce, the Robin not unfrequently seeks the sides of little watercourses, 
or draws near to the houses to subsist upon the crumbs and other 
