LEDBREAST. Zo 
day during the hatching of the eggs and the rearme of 
the young, yet the old birds performed their several pa- 
rental offices to their progeny without interruption, and 
apparently without alarm.” 
These birds also exhibit great attachment to each other. 
One that was “caught and caged by the editor of the 
Naturalist in winter was for several weeks constantly 
attended by its mate; which seems to prove that this 
bird pairs for life. When any one approached the cage, 
the male bird departed very unwillingly ; and if wholly 
excluded from the room in which the prisoner was con- 
fined, it would utter the most unceasing and piteous wail- 
ings. After some time, however, the visits became gra- 
dually less frequent, and at length ceased altogether.” 
With many redeeming qualities, the Robin is, however, 
one of the most pugnacious among birds, and maintains 
his right to a certain limited domain against all intruders. 
The Robin breeds early in spring: its nest is formed 
of moss, dead leaves, and dried grass, lined with hair, and 
sometimes a few feathers: the nest is frequently placed 
on a bank sheltered by brushwood, or a short distance 
above the ground in a thick bush or lane-hedge, sometimes 
in a hole of a wall partly covered with ivy. The eggs are 
from five to seven in number, white, spotted with pale 
reddish brown; the length nine lines and a half, by seven 
lines and a half in breadth. 
Generally diffused over England, Ireland, and Wales, 
the Redbreast is also an inhabitant of the most northern 
counties of Scotland; but, according to Mr. Dunn, it is 
more rare in the Shetland Islands than it is in Orkney. 
It also visits Denmark and Sweden in the breeding season ; 
and so well does it bear cold weather, that among the 
summer visitors to the latter country, M. Nilsson observes 
