FIFTH DAY. 139 



J. What could have been the origin of 

 that strange rhyme ? 



S. I am somewhat puzzled to know why 

 the wren is thus coupled with the robin, 

 unless it be that the tiny songster, like the 

 redbreast, haunts gardens and homesteads, 

 where its shrill pipe may be heard even in 

 winter time if the weather be not frosty. 

 Perhaps the peculiar cock of the wren's tail 

 might have suggested the conceit of a dimi- 

 nutive hen, it being very unlike that of other 

 small birds, and more resembling the tail 

 of a gallinaceous fowl. The wren never 

 enters houses like the robin, and does not, 

 therefore, claim the protection which the 

 latter still obtains, though I fear the harm- 

 less superstition is already assailed by the 

 stride of " education." Pope, in his day, 

 had some misgivings on this head, for he 

 says : 



" The robin redbreast, till of late, had rest, 

 And children sacred held a martin's nest." 



