RIVER—ROCK. 199 
to another, to pluck a spike from the Crown of Thorns at 
the Crucifixion, and receiving a drop of blood in the effort, 
from which the red colour of its breast arises. I have found 
the same reluctance to kill attaching in Canada to the 
American Robin (or red-breasted Thrush); the super- 
stition having been transferred with the name. Another 
Northamptonshire belief is that the Robin taps thrice at 
the window of a room in which a sick person lies before the 
death of the inmate. The belief in a Robin coming into 
a house being a sign of death has been recorded from 
Bath (‘“ Folklore Journal,” December, 1894). In Scotland 
(according to Dalyell), the Robin is considered a lucky token. 
In Yorkshire it is believed that if a Robin is killed the 
slayer’s cows will give bloody milk. In Cornwall it is 
thought to be unlucky to hunt the Robin or the Wren. 
Another belief met with in some parts is that the Robin’s 
song is of ill omen when heard by a sick person, while a 
curious superstition recorded in Chamber’s “ Book of Days ” 
(vol. 1, p. 678) is to the effect that a Robin dying in one’s 
hand causes it to always shake afterwards ; this also exists 
as a Berkshire belief. According to Bolam it is a common 
Border belief that if the Robin sings from underneath a bush 
it will rain, but if he mounts to the top of a bush to sing, 
a fine day may be expected. Swainson says a Suffolk 
rhyme is :-— 
If the Robin sings in the bush, 
Then the weather will be coarse ; 
But if the Robin sings on the barn, 
Then the weather will be warm. 
Rogry. The male of the HOBBY was formerly so called some- 
times by falconers, according to Col. Thornton. 
RoBINET: The Robin or REDBREAST;; lit. “‘ little Robin.” 
Rosin coco: The REDBREAST. (North Wales) lit. ‘“ red 
robin.” 
Ropin Hawk. A name for the CROSSBILL. (Hett.) 
Ropin ReEpDBREAST. The old English name of the Robin (see 
REDBREAST). Saxby says it is also a Shetland name 
for the WREN. 
Rock BuackBirp or Rock Sraruing: The RING-OUZEL. 
(Ireland and Stirling.) 
ROCK- DOVE [No. 347]. The name arises from its more exclu- 
sively frequenting cliffsand caves than its congeners. 
Willughby calls it the “Common Wild Dove or Pigeon.” 
Montagu (1802), who employs the name Rock Dove for it, 
unites the STOCK-DOVE with it under the mistaken 
