EEDBEEAST. 



25 



response until the other has ended what it had to say. The 

 ordinary note is a 'tsit, tsit,' frequently accompanied by an 

 upward flirt of the tail, and a shuffle of the wings. If 

 alarmed for its young, the note of the Robin is peculiarly 

 wailing. 



'In a wild condition,' says Mr. Couch, 'birds of the same 

 species will not sing near each other; and if the approach be 

 too close, and the courage equal, a battle follows. Redbreasts 

 offer a frequent example of this, and if an intruder ventures 

 on the accustomed domain, the song may be low and warbling, 

 or apparently reserved or suppressed, and neither of them will 

 appear to condescend to notice the efforts of its competitor. 

 But this restraint cannot endure long; the music becomes 

 more developed it rises higher; the attack is sudden, and 

 the fight so violent, that they fall to the ground together, 

 and one is killed, or both may be taken with the hand.' 

 Two, fighting in the air, fell together into a hat that hap- 

 pened to be lying on the ground, and were both captured; 

 on one occasion two of these birds caught fighting in a yard 

 at Belfast were kept all night in separate cages; one was 

 given its liberty early in the morning, and the other, 

 seeming tamer, was kept with the intention of being per- 

 manently retained; so unhappy, however, did it appear, that 

 it too was released. The other then came and attacked it 

 again, when the tamer bird was again captured, and the 

 wilder one flew away. In the evening, when the coast 

 seemed to be clear, the former was again let go, but the 

 other, from some ambush, again attacked, and this time 

 killed it. One kept in a greenhouse at Merville, in the 

 county of Antrim, killed every intruder of its own species, 

 amounting to about two dozen, that entered the house; and 

 and on an examination of three of the victims, a deep 

 wound was found in the neck of each, evidently made by 

 the bill of their antagonist. Another pair fighting, were 

 singularly separated by a Duck, which went up to them for 

 the evident purpose of parting them. Another pair fought 

 till the leg and wing of one were broken. 



'In speaking of the Robin,' says Mr. Jesse, 'I may observe 

 that when they sing late in the autumn, it appears to be 

 from rivalship, and that there are always two singing at the 

 same time. If one of them is silenced, the other immediately 

 ceases its song. I observe also that they always sing while 

 they are preparing to fight with each other. The Redbreast 



