BRITISH BIRDS. 



155 



THE REDBREAST. 



ROBIN REDBREAST, OR RUDDOCK. 



(Sylvia Rubecula, Lath. Bee-Jin rouge-gorge, 

 Temm.) 



THIS general favourite is too well known to need 

 a very minute description. The bill is slender and 

 delicate; its eyes large, black, and expressive, and 

 its aspect mild ; the head and all the upper parts 

 are brown, tinged with greenish olive; neck and 

 breast of a fine deep reddish orange; a spot of 

 the same colour marks its forehead ; belly and 

 vent dull white; legs dusky. 



In spring the Redbreast retires to woods and 

 thickets, where, with its mate, it prepares for the 

 accommodation of its future family. During sum- 

 mer it is rarely to be seen. The nest is placed 

 near the ground, by the roots of trees, or bushes, 

 in the most concealed spot, and sometimes in holes 

 of walls or old buildings, and is constructed of 

 moss and dried leaves, intermixed with hair, and 



