love's meinie. 23 



its mode of dressing; its dinners may be depended on : I 

 take it from an old book on Xatnral Ilistor}^, l»ut find it, 

 more or less, confirmed by others : " It takes a worm by 

 one extremity in its beak, and beats it on the ground till 

 the inner part comes away. Then seizing it in a similar 

 manner by the other end, it entirely cleanses the outer 

 part, which alone it eats." 



One's fii-st impression is that this must be a singularly 

 nnpleasanf operation for the worm, however fastidiously 

 delicate and exemplary in the robin. But I suppose the 

 real meaning is, that as a worm lives by passing earth 

 through its body, the robin merely compels it to cpiit this 

 — not ill-gotten, indeed, but now quite unnecessary — 

 wealth. We human creatures, who have lived the lives of 

 worms, collecting dust, are served by Death in exactly the 

 same manner. 



23. You will find that the robin's beak, then, is a very 

 prettily representative one of general bird power. As a 

 weapon, it is very formidable indeed ; he can kill an ad- 

 vei-sary of his own kind with one blow of it in the throat ; 

 and is so pugnacious, " valde pugnax," says Linna3us, " ut 

 non una arbor duos capiat erithacos," — "no single tree 

 can hold two cock-robins;" and for precision of seizure, 

 the little flat hook at the end of the upper mandible is 

 one of the most delicately formed points of forceps which 

 3"0u can find among the grain eaters. But I pass to one 

 of his more special perfections. 



24. He is very notable in the exquisite silence and pre- 



) 



