. TURDIDM—'ROBIN . 



8i 



There is every year a nest of Starlings close by." 



ROBIN, y^. 



frequently deceive me 

 Mr. W. Pamplin, 

 of Whip's Cross 

 Nursery, records 

 (29) having found 

 a Robin's nest con- ^ 

 taining five eggs, 

 in the bottom of a 

 haystack there on 

 Nov. I2th, 1884. 

 " S. E. W." writ- 

 ing from Black - 

 more on April 

 22nd, 1867, says 

 (Essfx Chron.): — 

 " The Robin 

 Redbreasts have 

 again this year put 

 in an appearance 

 in Blackmore 

 Church. At the 

 present time the 

 happy little'couple 

 have built their 



nest and deposited six eggs therein, in the reading-desk, underneath the Bible, 

 notwithstanding the repeated attempts to prevent them from doing so, the sexton's 

 wife having pulled the nest to pieces several 

 times. Some few years ago, no doubt, you 

 will remember a similar occurrence. The 

 eggs were then hatched, which will probably 

 be the case again." 



Pure white eggs are by no means uncom- 

 mon, especially late in the summer. In 1876, 

 two nests containing such eggs were taken 

 about the premises here, and on June 22nd, 

 1877, I took a nest with two pure white and 

 two very slightly spotted eggs on a bank about 

 half a mile away. On July I2th following I 

 found two more white eggs in a nest not far 

 from the first. One nest containing white eggs 

 was recently recorded as that of a Black Red- ' 



start fq.v.). In 1876, a nest was constructed on - robin, young, %. 



the top of a clock in the parlour of a dwelling-house at Stanford Rivers, access being 

 obtained by the door and window. The nest was unfortunately destroyed (34). 

 Mr. Sackett writes : " During the winter, a year or two back, a Robin became very 

 tame. lie entered my bedroom every day by the open window and fought him- 

 self in the looking-glass." Swainson, alluding to the common belief that it is un- 

 lucky to destroy a Robin's nest, quotes the following as an Essex saying (48. 16) : — 



' The Robin and the Redbreast, 



The Robin and the Wren, 

 If ye take out of their nest, 

 Ye'll never thrive again. 



