16 KEDBREA.ST. 



it with one of its own species stuffed, of which I have a 

 very fine one. I first of all placed it inside the window, so 

 that the Robin in the garden could see it, and he immedi- 

 ately flew to the window and commenced pecking at the glass; 

 but not succeeding in getting at the stuffed one, he flew 

 away for about a minute, and then returned and commenced 

 again at the glass, through which he could see the bird. I 

 then placed the stuffed Robin outside, on the window-sill, and 

 went and hid myself, so that I could see what the Robin 

 would do now that he could get at it; he very soon returned, 

 and commenced pecking at the stuffed bird most furiously. 

 At last he knocked it off the sill of the window; he followed 

 it as it fell down, and seemed to be quite pleased at being 

 victorious, and continued pecking at and pulling feathers out 

 of it, while it was lying on the ground. I then came out 

 of my hiding-place, and frightened him away, or else he 

 would soon have spoiled my bird.' 



An exactly similar circumstance has also been related to 

 me by Dr. Henry Moses, of Appleby, since the above was 

 registered. He had placed a recently-stuffed Robin in the 

 garden to dry; some Sparrows and a Dunnock soon began 

 to eye him curiously, and with evident signs of hostility; 

 they did not, however, seem to like his look a piece of wire 

 which had been left projecting from his head giving him a 

 rather fearful appearance and sheered off. No sooner, how- 

 ever, had they been gone than a Robin made a most furious 

 attack upon his supposed rival, dashed at him with the greatest 

 violence, buffeted him with his wings, knocked out one of 

 his eyes, and so miserably mauled and distorted him, that he 

 was rendered totally useless as a specimen of the art of 

 taxidermy. It must be acknowledged that the Robin is of 

 a very masterful temper and disposition. You are looking 

 out of your window, watching perhaps a Dunnock, a Tomtit, 

 or even a Sparrow in the tree in front of it: on a sudden 

 the bird is flown, vanished as if by the wave of the wand 

 of a magician; but the next moment the cause appears, and, 

 in the place of the quiet Shuffle- wing or lively Titmouse, 

 the necromancer, a pert Redbreast, stands, whose only object 

 in appearing there seems to have been to dislodge those, 

 who would have remained with a Sparrow or a Thrush, 

 un disturbing and undisturbed. He is even unsociable with 

 those of his own kind; in winter so many as two are 

 scarcely seen together, and as for other species he rarely 



