THE ROBIN REDBREAST 
migrations within these islands, and possibly 
also overseas, chiefly connected with com- 
missariat difficulties, and it is probable that 
on such occasions many robins may travel 
in company, though I have not been so for- 
tunate as to come across them in their pil- 
grimage. Equally interesting, however, is the 
habit which the bird has in Devonshire of 
occasionally going down to the rocks on the 
seashore, as I have often noticed in the neigh- 
bourhood of Teignmouth and Torquay. What 
manner of food the redbreast may find in 
such surroundings is a mystery, but there it 
certainly spends some of its time, bobbing at 
the edge of the rock pools in much the same 
fashion as the dipper on inland waters. 
Young robins are turned adrift at an early 
age to look after themselves, a result of the 
parent bird always rearing two families in the 
year, and in many cases even three, so that 
they have not too much time to devote to 
the upbringing of each. Another consequence 
of this prolific habit is that the robin has to 
make its nest earlier than most of our wild 
birds, and its nest has, in fact, been found near 
Torquay during the first week of January. 
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