TAMENESS OF ROBINS 105 



men are at dinner, waiting for any little morsels 

 that may be thrown to it, and fearlessly approach- 

 ing to pick up what is given. Another pair, which 

 are equally tame, build in a greenhouse not far 

 from the same shed ; and while the men are 

 attending to the plants, the Robins with their 

 young sit on the pots and do not seem to be in 

 the least incommoded. I knew of another nest in 

 an old kettle lying in a ditch not two yards from a 

 Nightingale's nest. A shady bank having plenty 

 of vegetation, or on the ground in the woods, is a 

 favourite place for nesting. 



The young Robins remain some weeks in the 

 vicinity of their home, being fed by their parents 

 the greater part of this time. These are then 

 driven away from their old haunts, and compelled 

 to go farther afield by their parents when autumn 

 advances ; and at length, when winter sets in, these 

 young birds in their turn leave the seclusion of 

 woods and fields to live in gardens and in the 

 vicinity of houses where, as Thomson says 



" Half afraid, he first 



Against the window beats ; then brisk alights 

 On the warm hearth ; then, hopping o'er the floor 

 Eyes all the smiling family askance, 

 And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is : 

 Till, more familiar grown, the table crumbs 

 Attract his slender feet." 



