THE REDBREAST. 255 



bird repaired the nest, and laid three more eggs, which 

 she attended to with the same perseverance and success. 

 "We have often alluded to the frequent return of birds 

 to the same nests, and perhaps the most singular feature 

 in this anecdote is, that about twelve years ago a Robin 

 built in that identical pigeon-hole. Why the visits were 

 not renewed every year it is impossible to conjecture, 

 but that the pair of the present year were either the 

 same old birds, or young ones of the brood then reared 

 in it, is more than probable, from the circumstance of 

 this pigeon-hole being again selected ; when others, 

 forming the school-library within the same frame-work, 

 would have equally suited the purpose. 



Another nest was constructed, and for two successive 

 years, in a still more extraordinary situation, which we 

 give, not on our own authority*, but fully believing it, 

 corroborated, as it may in a manner be said to be, by 

 the proofs of confidence already given. A few years 

 ago, a pair of Robins took up their abode in the parish 

 church of Hampton, in Warwickshire, and affixed their 

 nest to the church Bible, as it lay on the reading-desk. 

 The vicar would not allow the birds to be disturbed, and 

 therefore supplied himself with another Bible, from which 

 he read the lessons of the service. A similar instance 

 occurred at Collingbourne Kingston Church, in Wiltshire, 

 on the 13th of April, 1834 : the clerk, on looking out 

 for the lessons of the day, perceived something under 

 the Bible in the reading-desk, and in a hollow place, 

 occasioned by the Bible's resting on a raised ledge, found 

 a Robin's nest containing two eggs. The bird not hav- 

 ing been disturbed, laid four more, which were hatched 

 on the 4th of May. The still more extraordinary part 

 of the story is, that the cock-bird actually brought food 

 in its bill, and fed the young brood during divine service, 

 which is performed twice every Sunday ; and it is further 

 highly creditable to the parishioners, particularly the 

 junior portion of them, that the birds were never 



* Nat. His/. Mag., No. 31. ; 



