I. THE ROBIN. 23 



imperious necessity among birds than quad- 

 rupeds. Neither lions nor wolves habitually 

 use claws or teeth in contest with their own 

 species; but birds, for their partners, their 

 nests, their hunting-grounds, and their per- 

 sonal dignity, are nearly always in contention; 

 their courage is unequalled by that of any 

 other race of animals capable of compre- 

 hending danger ; and their pertinacity and 

 endurance have, in all ages, made them an 

 example to the brave, and an amusement to 

 the base, among mankind. 



22. Nevertheless, since as sword, as trowel, 

 or as pocket-comb, the beak of the bird has 

 to be pointed, the collection of seeds may be 

 conveniently entrusted to this otherwise pene- 

 trative instrument, and such food as can only 

 be obtained by probing crevices, splitting 

 open fissures, or neatly and minutely picking 

 things up, is allotted, pre-eminently, to the 

 bird species. 



The food of the robin, as you know, is very 

 miscellaneous. Linnaeus says of the Swedish 

 one, that it is " delectatus euonymi baccis," — 

 "delighted with dogwood berries," — the dog- 

 wood growing abundantly in Sweden, as once 



