THE ROBIN REDBREAST 



migrations within these islands, and possibly 

 also overseas, chiefly connected with com- 

 missariat difficulties, and it is probable that 

 on such occasions many robins may travel 

 in company, though I have not been so for- 

 tunate as to come across them in their pil- 

 grimage. Equally interesting, however, is the 

 habit which the bird has in Devonshire of 

 occasionally going down to the rocks on the 

 seashore, as I have often noticed in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Teignmouth and Torquay. What 

 manner of food the redbreast may find in 

 such surroundings is a mystery, but there it 

 certainly spends some of its time, bobbing at 

 the edge of the rock pools in much the same 

 fashion as the dipper on inland waters. 



Young robins are turned adrift at an early 

 age to look after themselves, a result of the 

 parent bird always rearing two families in the 

 year, and in many cases even three, so that 

 they have not too much time to devote to 

 the upbringing of each. Another consequence 

 of this prolific habit is that the robin has to 

 make its nest earlier than most of our wild 

 birds, and its nest has, hi fact, been found near 

 Torquay during the first week of January. 

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