FOR CAGES AND A VlARIES, 175 



The Redbreast has, generally, two broods in the year, 

 and the nest is placed in the most varied situations; it 

 is loosely constructed of grass and leaves, lined with hair 

 and feathers. The eggs are from five to seven in number, 

 of a creamy white colour, spotted with dusky-red. The 

 young are very easily reared on ants' eggs and bread and 

 milk, using the same precautions as are recommended 

 in the case of the Wheatear and other small insectivorous 

 birds. Care must, however, be taken to separate the young 

 Robins as soon as they can feed themselves, for they are 

 very quarrelsome, and if left together after the time when 

 Nature bids them separate, they would be sure to fight 

 and disfigure, if not indeed kill each other outright, the 

 biggest and strongest remaining master or mistress of the 

 field; but sometimes they all sink under their mutually 

 inflicted injuries. 



The tame Robin should not have any disease, and will 

 not, if he is sensibly treated; but should he puff out his 

 feathers and show unmistakable signs of suffering from 

 indigestion, or liver trouble, he had better be released, 

 for otherwise he will die, and it is always painful to 

 witness suffering that one is unable to relieve. 



It is better to bring up the young ones from the nest 

 than to take the adults, except in the autumn ; should one 

 come into the house of his own accord, that would, of 

 course, be the best plan of all; but in such a case, the 

 confiding little creature should be permitted to fly away 

 in the spring, and if so, and he remain alive, he will be 

 certain to return to his snug retreat at the beginning of 

 the following winter. 



The really handsome plumage, the docility and extremely 

 sweet song of the Robin, have made him such a universal 

 favourite, that even gardeners, as a rule, have not a word 

 to say against him, although he and his progeny certainly 

 help themselves freely to the currants in the autumn; 

 but, after all, the harm he may do is nothing in comparison 

 with the benefit he confers on the horticulturist by the 

 destruction of myriads of insect plagues. 



