The White Wagtail."] OF ORKNEY. 69 



the quill-feathers dusky; the tail, which is almost always 

 moving, is long, the colour is black, except the outermost fea- 

 ther on each side, which is almost all white ; the legs are 

 black, slender, the hind-claw long, as in the lark kind. 



GENUS XIV. WARBLERS. 



Gen. Char. Bill slender and weak ; nostrils small, sunk ; tongue cloven ; feet, 

 the exterior toe joined at the under part of the last joint to the middle toe. 



Species 1. The Redbreast. 



Robin Redbreast, or Rudock, Wil. Orn. 219. Raii Syn. Av. 78. Motacilla 

 Rubecula, Lin. &/. 337. Robin, Ore. Brit. Zool. 260. 



THE attachment of this little harmless stranger to mankind, 

 and its strength of mind, (shall I say), in flying from the ri- 

 gours of winter to his habitations, often from a less to a 

 greater danger, is so prettily described by Thomson in his 

 Winter, that I hope I shall be forgiven in transcribing the 

 passage. 



One alone, 



The redbreast, sacred to the household gods, 

 Wisely regardful of th' embroiling sky, 

 In joyless fields, and thorny thickets, leaves 

 His shivering mates, and pays to trusted man 



