ROBIN. 49 



displayed in its concealment, generally becomes the 

 booty of every prying boy ; and the blue eggs of the 

 Hedge Warbler are always found in such numbers on 

 his string, that it is surprising how any of the race are 

 remaining." 



The eggs, four or five in number, are of a spotless 

 blue. 



ROBIN. 



Erythacus Rubecula ; Rouge-gorge ; Rothkelchen. 

 Redbreast ; Ruddock. 



Bill, black ; legs and claws, brown ; head, neck, back, 

 and tail, olive-brown ; chin, throat, and breast, orange- 

 red, encircled by a band of bluish-grey ; lower part of 

 the breast and abdomen, white ; colours of the female, 

 duller. Length, five inches and three-quarters. 



No bird is better known than the Robin, and none 

 more appreciated than he. A favourite with young and 

 old, he meets with more kindly consideration than any 

 other of our feathered friends. The time-worn ballads 

 of The Babes in the Wood, and The Death and Burial 

 of Cock Robin, have doubtless had much to say to 

 the great popularity of our little friend ; and his bold 

 and confiding manners, and his sweet song, heard at all 

 seasons and in all weathers, have deepened, as we grew 

 up, the favourable impression we entertained of this 

 pretty songster from our earliest childhood. 



As a song bird, I am, for my own part, disposed to 

 give the Robin a very high place. No bird has so 

 plaintive or so varied a song ; it is, indeed, impossible 



E 



