76 THE SMALLER BRITISH BIRDS. 



against the wall over the firo-place of a small cottage, in which potatoes 

 were kept, and which closely adjoined a blacksmith's shop, where the 

 roar of the forge fire, and the ring of the hammer on the anvil, were 

 often heard. Numbers of visitors came to see the birds, but they took 

 it all as a matter of course, and having raised a first brood, thought 

 they would try a different position, so built another nest on a shelf on 

 the opposite wall, close to a mousetrap. The second brood reared, 

 feeling that they had not yet done enough for society, they set about 

 building a third nest, on a bundle of papers which lay on another 

 shelf, yet in the same room, and a correspondent of "The Field 

 Naturalist's Magazine," saw the hen bird on the 21st. of June, feeding 

 the four little fledgings which constituted this third brood, while a 

 party of friends watched the proceedings, and the cock bird looked on 

 from the outside of the building. 



It has been remarked that the hen of this species sits very close, 

 and is not easily disturbed; she has been takeii up with nest, eggs, 

 and all, and placed in a cage, where she has continued to sit and 

 hatch her young. One which was so served died of starvation, rather 

 than neglect her duties, the inference being that she depended upon 

 the cock bird for a supply of food. 



Another strange nesting-place chosen by the Redbreast was a candle- 

 stick, on a mantlepiece over the kitchen fire-place, at the house of a 

 surgeon at Stansted, in Essex; and yet another was on the reading- 

 desk of North Molton Church, Devon, directly under the Bible and 

 Prayer-book; this was a very devotional bird, and no doubt the country 

 people looked upon it with some degree of reverence, as they commonly 

 do upon all Robins; so it is said to be wicked to kill one of these 

 birds, which are such special favourites with young people, in whose 

 nursery ballads and legends they play so important parts. Several 

 other instances have occurred of the Robins building in or about church 

 pulpits, and they have been known to join in the songs of praise 

 raised by the congregation. 



The average length of the Robin is about five inches and three 

 quarters, the hen being somewhat smaller; the wings expand to a little 

 over nine inches; the young birds at first are covered with a loose 

 down of greyish brown; they do not get the characteristic red colour 

 on the breast until after the second moult, although a dull reddish or 

 orange tinge gives promise of the glory that is to come. Varieties 

 sometimes occur with the plumage nearly white or grey, or otherwise 

 very different from, the ordinary colours. 



The Robin is not a high flier, and it goes only short distances at 

 the time, from one nesting-place to another, with a quick and straight 



