216 ROBIN. 



for crumbs to enable him to sustain life; 

 or hops around the door, and finds his 

 food in social community with the domes- 

 tic fowls. We extract a passage from a 

 well known author, illustrating the pecu- 

 liarity of character in this bird. 



"The Red-breast sacred to the household gods, 

 Wisely regardful of the embroiling sky 

 In joyless fields and thorny thickets leaves 

 His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man 

 His annual visit. Half afraid, he first 

 Against the window beats; then brisk alights 

 On the warm hearth; then, hopping o'er the floor, 

 Eyes all the smiling family askance, 

 And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is; 

 'Till more familiar grown, the table crumbs 

 Attract his slender feet." 



His colours though not beautiful, are 

 neat and striking, he being a rich brown 

 on the upper part of the body, and on the 

 head, which passes off into a greenish- 

 olive shade; while the breast and throat 

 are reddish-orange, varying into a pure 

 white on the lower extremities. 



