Notice regarding the Red-breast. 83 



cured for him ; and I have seen him use above a hundred of 

 the flesh-flies daily. After I had him seven years, the colour 

 of his feathers had considerably changed ; his wings, back, 

 and tail turned white, but his breast retained its red colour ; 

 and thus he continued till the ninth year, when he died. The 

 north of Scotland does not furnish a more delightful bird for 

 a cage than Robin. Could he be procured young, and treated 

 as I have stated, there can be no doubt of preserving him. 

 It is extremely difficult to obtain a young one. The female 

 is scarcely known. I have never met with any book describ- 

 ing the female robin. I never saw but two of them ; and I 

 shall state the grounds of my opinion that they were female 

 robins : — The male robin is a daring warlike bird ; he does 

 not associate even with the male of his own species, nor with 

 any bird whatever but the female of his own kind. Of this 

 I am certain; and I remarked his familiarity and attention 

 to the only two females I have seen. I shall describe to 

 you the female : — She is precisely of the same form with the 

 male — of a dusky colour — has not the red breast — chirps as 

 the male — and bows the head at every chirp, but is devoid of 

 song." 



Our correspondent is wrong in supposing that the domes- 

 tication of red-breasts is of rare occurrence. The feelino- 

 which prevents their being taken and educated as song-birds, 

 has, we have little doubt, taken its rise from the association 

 we have alluded to, and is by no means to be attributed to 

 their inability to support the confinement of a cage. The 

 Hon. Daines Barrington (Phil. Trans, vol. lxiii.) mentions his 

 having trained young red-breasts, among other birds, under a 

 nightingale, for the purpose of acertaining whether the notes 

 of birds were instinctive, or how much arose from imitation. 

 In one case, three parts in four were the song of the nightin- 

 gale ; in another, educated under a woodlark-linnet for a 

 month, and afterwards removed near a skylark-linnet, the 

 robin learnt the notes of this last. Willughby says, * red- 

 breasts may be taken " at ten days old ; if you let them lie 

 too long, they will be sullen.'' 1 And Vieillot f remarks, that, 



* Willughby, p. '219. f Vieillot in Nouv. Diet. d'Hisl. Nat. vol. xi. 



