THE ROBIN 255 



to add much more to Mr. Herman's graphic description. 

 Perhaps it is not known to all our readers, however, that 

 a great number of Robins migrate to our country every 

 autumn from the Continent, whilst some of our home- 

 bred birds leave our shores. As a rule the red on the 

 breast of the former is brighter than with those bred 

 here. There are, however, as we know, individual 

 birds which will attach themselves to a home where they 

 have been treated kindly, for a number of successive 

 winters, entering the open window and feeding with the 

 children. 



The Robin has three different styles of song, one the 

 gay, joyous outpouring which delights us on sunny 

 days, then the autumnal dirge, which proclaims the 

 approach of cold stormy days, and is often uttered just 

 before it leaves us for warmer quarters; and again, the 

 long drawn-out cries, notes of distress, when some 

 prowling cat or other enemy approaches its nest. 



Robins, as we all know, devour great quantities of 

 worms and insects. It is a most valuable species to the 

 gardener and fruit grower, for, except under the stress 

 of thirst, it lives only on animal food. 



The Robin needs little description. The whole 

 of the upper side, including the back of the head and 

 crown, is olive brown, the under-parts dingy white; 

 throat, breast, and brow a beautiful rose-red with us, in 

 some districts more chestnut-red, whence the bird is 

 called the Redbreast. There are plainly discernable 

 oblique stripes of a lighter shade on the wings. Eyes 

 dark brown and large; legs dark and strong; beak 

 finely pointed ; plumage fine, soft, and loose. The nest 

 is always placed low down, in the thickest bushes, in 



