THE REDBREAST 439 



presence. She was engaged at the time, not on the actual construc- 

 tion of the nest, but in paving with dead hawthorn leaves the passage 

 that led to it beneath a tuft of grass. Tunnel-shaped entrances to 

 robins' nests, when on the ground, are common, but what the bird 

 gained by the leaf pavement I do not know. 



That the robin is prompt to desert its nest, at least before incuba- 

 tion begins, is a familiar fact. There are, however, exceptions. I once 

 pulled up a robin's nest because it was built in too exposed a position, 

 and left the material lying about in the hope that the bird would use 

 it to reconstruct the nest elsewhere. He in fact did work most of it 

 into the fabric of the new nest, which, next morning, I found neatly 

 built on the original site ! Not having the heart to pull it up again, I 

 made on one side a small erection of sods to hide it from view. The 

 robin thereupon deserted. Rooting up its nest was an act of frank 

 villainy it could understand and remedy. But this mysterious erec- 

 tion of sods ! No. That was neither to be understood, nor remedied, 

 nor endured. 



The cock is said not only to feed the hen when incubating, but 

 occasionally to take his turn upon the eggs. 1 Possibly in this 

 individuals differ. Both, however, are zealous in feeding the 

 young, the hen, as a rule, making more frequent visits than her 

 mate, especially when the nest is under observation, her anxiety to 

 nourish her babes overcoming her sense of caution much more 

 rapidly than in the case of the cock a characteristic that is, of 

 course, not peculiar to the species. 



The young of the first brood, when fledged, continue to be fed 

 by the parents till the nest for the second brood is begun, and may 

 possibly be fed by the father for some time later. The individual 

 young birds of both broods, and of the third when there is one, lead 

 each a separate existence, which, as the summer progresses, gradually 

 develops into the state of active hostility already described, when 

 they battle not only among themselves, but, oblivious of filial piety, 



1 J. B. Bailly, Ornithologie de la Savoie, 



