264 BRITISH BIRDS. 



wlien expressing regret at seeing so many of his favourites on the bird- 

 stalls in the Roman market^ that the dealer assured him that if he took a 

 dozen for his dinner that day he would come back for two dozen on the 

 morrow. Even in our own country the migratory instincts of the Robin 

 are sometimes manifested during the prevalence of severe and prolonged 

 frosts^ the birds for the most part quitting their northern haunts and 

 retiring southwards, leaving but a few birds whose exceptional trustfulness 

 and familiarity render them semi-domesticated, and who require but little 

 enticement to make them regular indoor guests. Few birds are more con- 

 fiding in their nature, or more trustful in disposition, than the Robin, a 

 circumstance that has won for it universal protection. It may be safely 

 said that in all lands where the English language is spoken, some bird 

 more trustful than the rest, or with a garb approaching the little songster 

 of our own land in colour, is singled out and made a substitute for the 

 Robin. The Americans call the Migratory Thrush, T. migratorius, the 

 Robin ; whilst in the Antipodes the Australian colonists have found a 

 substitute in several members of the genus Petroica — a group of Chat-like 

 birds, with bright red breasts, and possessing peculiarly sweet and plaintive 

 songs. 



The Robin, like the Chats and Redstarts, is almost constantly in motion. 

 Now hopping from under the densest bushes out onto the lawn or garden- 

 bed, he droops his wings, elevates his tail a little, and with several sharp 

 bobbing motions, utters his few loud shrill call-notes, and sits and eyes 

 you so trustfully, with head turned slightly aside, and his large dark eye 

 betraying just a shade of fearfulness at your presence. He hops confi- 

 dently towards you, perches daintily on some overthrown flower-pot, or on 

 the spade you have left but the moment before, and seems to know he is a 

 welcome guest and perfectly safe. 



The Robin must be classed amongst the most pugnacious of birds, and 

 guards most jealously his favourite haunt from intrusion. He is apparently 

 recognized as the lord of all the smaller birds ; and even the pert little 

 Sparrows do not seem to care to try conclusions with him, and sometimes 

 retire from the heap of crumbs as soon as the Robin appears. Even with its 

 own species it is none the less quarrelsome and pugnacious, combats 

 taking place between rival birds incessantly. Many are the instances on 

 record of this peculiar trait in the Robin's disposition. Dixon writes : — 

 " Upon one occasion I was strolling through a dense shrubbery, under the 

 gloomy yew trees, when I heard a flutter amongst the withered leaves on 

 the banks of a tiny rivulet flowing down a ravine. Closer inspection 

 revealed a bird struggling in the water ; and I went down the bank to 

 find out the cause of this strange proceeding, and found a Robin tangled, 

 as it appeared, in the herbage growing on the water's edge. I took hold 

 of the bird with the intention of releasing it from its captivity, and was 



