82 BIRDS OF THE WEST OF SCOTLAND. 



In our northern climate it is sometimes hard to withhold one's 

 sympathy for this modest little bird, as it sits shivering on the 

 withered sticks among which the nest is placed; frequently, in- 

 deed, a sudden change in the weather upsets the teachings of its 

 own instincts by covering its haunts with a carpet of snow, on 

 which it hops in sad wonderment at winter's return, although 

 ready with a cheering note for its sitting mate, the moment the 

 breaking clouds show their silver lining, and the peep of blue 

 sky beyond. 



THE REDBREAST. 



ERYTHACA RUB ECU LA. 



Broinn-dearg. 



WHEN the late Mr John Macgillivray wrote his account of the 

 Birds of the Hebrides, he was able to mention but one locality in 

 these islands for this familiar bird, namely, Rhodil, in Harris. 

 Since that time, however, it has been found in various other 

 places. On the west side of North Uist, it is frequently seen at 

 Paible, and in one or two localities. It is likewise now a common 

 bird in some parts of Lewis, especially in the town of Stornoway 

 and its attractive vicinity, where it may be seen as numerously, 

 perhaps, as in the most fertile districts of Scotland. Drawn 

 thither, no doubt, by the results of the extraordinary improve- 

 ments that have of late years been effected by the proprietor, Sir 

 James Matheson, it has now become fairly established, and is able 

 to lead a life of pleasure, roaming over the beautifully cultivated 

 grounds of the neighbourhood of the castle, or mounting the 

 height of some Stornoway house-top, whence I have heard the 

 little fellow trilling his morning hymn unseen in the grey dawn. 



On all the Inner Hebrides the robin is known as a common 

 bird practising his pugnacious habits, nothing awed by the pre- 

 sence of hawks, or dulled by the absence of other small birds 

 whose society he enjoys in southern haunts. Standing one fine 

 autumnal morning in an old cabbage garden in Mull, where the 

 ground was being turned over, I observed one settling on the 

 limb of a low bush near the gardener at his work. Having espied 

 a worm, he swiftly glided from his perch, lifted his prey without 

 closing his wings, and after alighting on another low twig, de- 



