120 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



which currant bushes are nailed. On my first 

 visit the bird flew off when I advanced a finger 

 within half a foot of her. Since then she has 

 kept her place, even when touched. The pair, 

 cock and hen, take turns in the labour of incuba- 

 tion, though probably the hen does the most qf 

 it, but in both the feathers of the tail show traces 

 of cramped quarters. 



It is very generally thought that the robin, 

 so ready to be a dependant during hard weather, 

 is indifferent to human assistance in the summer. 

 This is by no means the case. I have only to 

 take a rake in hand and begin scratching the 

 ground to have one of the pair referred to in 

 front of me within a couple of minutes. During 

 the period of dry winds my gardening friend has 

 been putting in odd half-hours, pushing the Dutch 

 hoe through the beds of his growing plants to 

 kill the young weeds. Well do the robins know 

 the significance of this manoeuvre, for they ,are 

 in front of him in an instant, watching the broken 

 earth with eyes marvellously capable of detecting 

 the movement of any creeping thing. A big worm 

 is seized and rapidly pecked to fragments, and a 

 small one is got over whole. Centipedes and 

 millipedes are regarded as a special dainty, and 

 the unearthing of one will bring the robin almost 

 into the hoe's grip. Every now and again the 

 feaster remembers his companion on the nest, and 

 vanishes with a wriggling dainty, which he deposits 

 in her beak. 



.With their liberal and experimental views on 

 nesting quarters, the robins are of the small num- 



