i. THE ROBIN. 37 



and many other such decorative ones. The 

 tiar.sition from the entirely leaf-hke shape of 

 the active phame, with its obhque point, to the 

 -more or less symmetrical dualism of the decora- 

 tive plume, corresponds with the change from 

 the pointed green leaf to the dual, or heart- 

 shaped, petal of many flowers. I shall return 

 to this part of our subject, having given you, 

 I believe, enough of detail for the present. 



35. I have said nothing to-day of the my- 

 thology of the bird, though I told you that 

 would always be, for us, the most important 

 part of its natural history. But I am obliged, 

 sometimes, to take what we immediately want, 

 rather than what, ultimately, we shall need 

 chiefly. In the second place, you probably, 

 most of you, know more of the mythology 

 of the robin than I do, for the stories about 

 it are all northern, and I know scarcely any 

 myths but the Italian and Greek. You will 

 find under the name " Robin," in Miss Yonge's 

 exhaustive and admirable " History of Christian 

 Names," the various titles of honour and en- 

 dearment connected with him, and with the 

 general idea of redness, — from the bishop 

 called " Bright Red Fame," who founded the 



