WARBLERS. 67 
Next, probably, we learn by heart a certain poem 
concerning the robin’s proceedings in the event of a 
north wind and a snowfall. We are told, too, of the 
laudable behaviour of robins towards the Babes in 
the Wood; and we mourn over the untimely death 
of Cock Robin at the hands of the bloodthirsty 
The Redbreast. 
sparrow. And so at last we come to look upon the 
robin as rather an ill-used bird, with some special 
and undeniable claim to the kindly consideration of 
mankind, which should for ever preserve it from 
persecution or ill-usage. 
And the feeling is a just one, although founded 
upon false and merely sentimental premises, for 
