20 love's meinie. 



essential point to know about it is the breadth and 

 latitude of the zone it properly inhabits, — that is to 

 say, in which it builds its nest ; next, its habit of life, 

 and extent and line of southing in the winter ; and, 

 finally, its manner of travelling. 



17. Now, here is this entirely familiar bird, the 

 robin. Quite the first thing that strikes me about 

 it, looking at it as a painter, is the small effect it 

 seems to have had on the minds of the southern 

 nations. I trace nothing of it definitely, either in 

 the art or literature of Greece or Italy. I find, 

 even, no definite name for it ; you don't know if 

 Lesbia's "passer" had a red breast, or a blue, or a 

 brown. And yet Mr. Gould says it is abundant in all 

 parts of Europe, in all the islands of the Mediter- 

 ranean, and in Madeira and the Azores. And then 

 he says — (now notice the puzzle of this), — " In many 

 parts of the Continent it is a migrant, and, con- 

 trary to what obtains with us, is there treated as a 

 vagrant, for there is scarcely a country across the 

 water in which it is not shot down and eaten." 



" In many parts of the Continent it is a migrant." 

 In what parts — how far — in what manner .<* 



18. In none of the old natural history books can 

 I find any account of the robin as a traveller, but 

 there is, for once, some sufficient reason for their 

 reticence. He has a curious fancy in his manner 



