EEDBREAST. 29 



straw in it, and had hatched their young just before it was 

 sent away. One of the old birds, instead of being frightened 

 away by the motion of the waggon, only left the nest from 

 time to time for the purpose of flying to the nearest hedge 

 for food for its young; and thus alternately affording warmth 

 and nourishment to them, it arrived at Worthing. The 

 affection of this bird having been observed by the waggoner, 

 he took care in unloading not to disturb the Robin's nest; 

 and the Robin and its young returned in safety to Walton 

 Heath, being the place from whence they had set out; the 

 distance travelled not being less than one hundred miles. 

 Whether it was the male or female Robin which kept with 

 the waggon I have not been able to ascertain; but most 

 probably the latter; for what will not a mother's love and a 

 mother's tenderness induce her to do?' 



'Amongst Robin Redbreasts,' says Bishop Stanley, 'many 

 instances of strange selection have come to our knowledge, 

 quite as singular as those hitherto mentioned. Thus, we know 

 of one which attempted to build in the library of a gentleman's 

 house, at least so it was suspected, from a few suspicious 

 materials, such as dried leaves, etc., having been occasionally 

 found amongst the shelves, without any person being able to 

 ascertain from whence they came. Probably disappointed by 

 perceiving they were swept away as soon as deposited, the 

 domestic bird resolved to try another equally sheltered situation, 

 and, accordingly, selected the dining-room, which, as the family 

 never entered it till luncheon-time, she had all to herself 

 from the moment the housemaid had done her duty in the 

 morning and retired, leaving, as she was accustomed to do, 

 the window open. How long the bird had carried on her 

 operations- unnoticed, we know not, but a servant accidentally 

 moving the drapery of one of the window-curtains, discovered 

 in the folds of a festoon the Robin's nest. In this instance 

 the bird availed itself of a situation in which, during the 

 greater portion of the day, she was in solitude and silence; but 

 solitude and silence do not seem essential to all Robin Red- 

 breasts, for we lately heard of a pair which took possession 

 of a pigeon-hole book-shelf in a school, which was constantly 

 frequented by seventy children. The hole selected was at the 

 farthest extremity of the room, immediately above the heads 

 of a junior class of little girls, from four to five years of 

 age, who, much to their credit, never disturbed the bird. 

 There she laid and hatched five eggs. One of the young ones 



