BIRDS IN THE CALENDAR 



few cage birds are ever so bold as to perch 

 on the gardener's spade on the look-out for 

 the worms as he turns them up from the 

 damp soil. The robin might, in fact, furnish 

 the text of a lay -sermon on the fruits of 

 kindness to animals, and those dialectical 

 people who ask whether we are kind to the 

 robin because it trusts us, or whether, on 

 the other hand, it trusts us because we are 

 kind to it, ask a foolish question that raises 

 a wholly unnecessary confusion between 

 cause and effect. It is a question that those, 

 at any rate, who have seen the bird in coun- 

 tries where it is treated differently will have 

 no difficulty whatever in answering. Broadly 

 speaking, the redbreast has the best time of 

 it in northern lands. This tolerance has not, 

 as has been suggested, any connection with 

 Protestantism, for such a distinction would 

 exclude the greater part of Ireland, where, 

 as it happens, the bird is as safe from per- 

 secution as in Britain, since the superstitious 

 peasants firmly believe that anyone killing 

 a " spiddog " will be punished by a lump 

 growing on the palm of his hand. The un- 

 toward fate of the robin in Latin countries 

 138 



