212 The Redbreast. 



their homes in London and its suburbs. Red- 

 breasts often choose extraordinary places for their 

 nests, such as flower-pots and old kettles, andinaiiy 

 cases are on record of their having nested in rooms 

 to which they have had access through windows 

 which have been kept constantly open. But 

 perhaps the most extraordinary position ever 

 chosen by one of these birds for its nesting-place 

 was the interior of a human skull, in the well-known 

 bone-crypt under the church at Hythe, in Kent. 



At the end of summer the old birds retire as 

 much as possible into seclusion during their moult,, 

 leaving the young in possession of their haunts. 

 On their return many a battle-royal takes place, and 

 old-world tales would lead us to believe that the 

 young birds drive off their parents. The process, 

 however, is, in fact, reversed, and it is the old 

 birds that, as a rule, remain in possession, while 

 the young are sent out into the world to seek 

 their fortunes; and certain it is that redbreasts 

 migrate to the southward in very considerable 

 numbers during the autumn. As soon as cold 

 weather sets in another movement takes place, and 

 the birds close in upon houses and outbuildings, 

 knowing that in such places they are sure to find 

 food, and at this time there is a strong immigration 

 into London, and even in the inner suburbs they 

 become far from uncommon, being found wherever 

 there are gardens of any size. 



The food of the redbreast varies with the 

 seasons. During the greater part of the year 



