52 The Redbreast. 



Family - TURDID.^. Suhfamily— TURDINAl. 



The RedbreAvST. 



Erithacus. nibccula, LiNN. 



THE Robin breeds throughout Europe northwards to the Arctic circle, east- 

 wards across Russia to the Ural Mountains, southwards to the south of 

 Spain, the west of Northern Africa, the Canaries, Madeira and the Azores. 

 In autumn it migrates southwards to Southern Europe, the Sahara, Eg3'pt, Pales- 

 tine, Asia Minor, N.W. Turkestan and Persia. In Great Britain it is generally 

 distributed ; it has not however, hitherto, been known to breed in the Shetlands. 



Although called Redbreast the breast is rather tawny sienna than red. The 

 adult male has the upper parts olivaceous brown, slightly more ruddy on the 

 crown: outer wing-coverts with the tip of the outer web buff; primaries dark 

 ashy grey, with brownish outer webs, secondaries narrowl}' tipped with whitish ; 

 a frontal band, the lores, ear-coverts, chin, throat, and breast tawn}- sienna, or 

 orange chestnut ; belly pure white ; ilanks and under tail-coverts sand}^ brownish 

 shading off into huffish white; tail below ashy; bill black, feet brown, iris almost 

 black. 



The female has the frontal band, lores, and chin more smok}', and the throat 

 of a duller, more sandy, hue excepting at the sides ; the crown of the head and 

 the bill are also broader, and the latter shorter, than in the male. 



Nestlings have all the small feathers of the upper and under surfaces spotted 

 in the centre with buff and tipped with blackish ; but birds of the year differ but 

 little from their parents excepting that their colours are a little paler. 



The habits of this most confiding and familiar little favourite are pretty 

 generally known to bird lovers ; it is fond of haunting the homes of mankind, 

 but more especially in the winter-time, when it thereby has a chance of appeasing 

 the pangs of hunger ; but many pairs remain to breed in holes and corners of 

 garden, orchard or outhouse, and therefore are occasionally seen about one's 

 premises almost throughout the year. It would appear that at the pairing season 

 each male Robin claims, and defends against all intruders of his own species, an 

 area sufficiently large to provide food for his expected family, and many are the 

 battles which are fought, even to the death, in the early spring. 



