178 BRITISH BIRDS. 



" In tents where tawny gipsies dwell, 



In woods where hunters chase the hind, 

 And at the hermit's lonely ceU, 

 Dost thou some crumbs of comfort find. 



" Nor are thy little wants forgot 



In beggar's hut, or Crispin's stall ; 

 The miser only feeds thee not, 

 Who suffers ne'er a crumb to fall. 



" The youth who strays, with dark design. 

 To make each well-stored nest a prey, 

 If dusky hues denote them thine, 

 Will draw his pilfering hand away. 



" The finch a spangled robe may wear, 

 The nightingale delightful sing. 

 The lark ascend most high in air, 

 The swallow fly most swift on wing : 



•' The peacock's plumes in pride may swell, 

 The parrot prate eternally ; 

 But yet no bird man loves so well 

 As thou with thy simplicity." 



The robin is said to be of a migrative species, but 

 only because it appears more frequently about our dwell- 

 ings in winter. Then insects are not found in the 

 woods and fields, and so it seeks the protection of man, 

 coming to the windows before which crumbs are cast, 

 entering, perhaps, the room, and making itself even so 

 much at home as to gather up those which have fallen 

 from the table. As that season retires, it commences 

 its labours, being a very early builder, and usually 



