The Bird Book 



structure of moss and dry grass takes a perfectly 

 cup-shaped form, and is neatly lined with wool, 

 hair, and sometimes a few feathers. 



Closely allied to the Hedge Sparrow is a bird, 

 without some reference to which this chapter 

 would be incomplete, for in all probability no bird 

 is more familiar or so generally loved as the 

 Robin. The bold assurance with which he treats 

 mankind has won for him a regard that no other 

 bird possesses. There is one before me as I 

 write, hopping jauntily about the lawn with an 

 air of proprietorship, willing, nay, almost anxious, 

 to fight to defend his preserves. The appearance 

 of another Robin is but a challenge to combat, for, 

 truth to tell, he is a pugnacious little fellow, and 

 like the old Teutons, probably boasts of the 

 distance at which he is able to keep his neigh- 

 bours. At present the one before me is monarch 

 of all he surveys. Sic Requiescat ! 



22 



