REDBREAST. 63 



of November, 1851, at Gribton, Dumfriesshire, the seat 

 of Francis Maxwell, Esq. 



The nest of the Robin, which is built of fine stalks, 

 moss, dried leaves, and grass, and lined with hair and 

 wool, with sometimes a few feathers, is generally placed 

 on a bank under the shelter of a bush, or sometimes 

 in a bush itself, at a low height from the ground, and 

 occasionally in a hole in a wall covered with ivy, a 

 crevice in a rock, among fern and tangled roots the 

 entrance perhaps being through some very narrow 

 aperture, or an ivy-clad tree. It measures about five 

 inches and three quarters across, and two and a half 

 in internal diameter. It is concealed with great care 

 and success. W. Bridger, Esq. has kindly forwarded 

 me a specimen among a number of others. 



His late Majesty King William the Fourth had a 

 part of the mizen-mast of the Victory, against which 

 Lord Nelson was standing when he was mortally 

 wounded, placed in a building in the grounds of Bushy 

 Park when he resided there. A large shot had passed 

 through this part of the mast, and in the hole it had 

 left, a pair of Robins built their nest and reared their 

 young. The relic was afterwards removed to the dining- 

 room of the house, and is now in the armoury of 

 Windsor Castle. 'Victoria pacem.' 



A loft is frequently built in, and in one instance, 

 the nest having been obliged to be removed, for an 

 alteration in the wall, the hen bird did not forsake it, 

 though placed elsewhere, even while dislodged mortar 

 and stones fell dangerously near her. A nest was 

 placed on a shelf in a pantry, among some four-sided 

 bottles, so that it was made of a square shape. When 

 the housekeeper had to go in for any article, the bird, 

 instead of flying out of the window, as might have 



