LONDON'S LITTLE BIRDS 125 



this should be so, as this bright little bird is a 

 universal favourite on account of his confidence 

 in and familiarity with man, and his rare beauty, 

 and because, as becomes a cousin of the nightin- 

 gale, he is a very sweet singer. Moreover, just 

 as his red breast shines brightest in autumn and 

 winter, when all things look grey and desolate, 

 or white with the snow's universal whiteness, so 

 does his song have a peculiar charm and almost 

 unearthly sweetness in the silent songless season. 

 It is not strange that in credulous times man's 

 imagination should have endowed so loved a 

 bird with impossible virtues, that it should have 

 been believed that he alone — heaven's little 

 feathered darling — cared for ' the friendless 

 bodies of unburied men ' and covered them with 

 leaves, and was not without some supernatural 

 faculties. Nor can it be said that all these 

 pretty fables have quite faded out of the rustic 

 mind. But, superstition apart, the robin is still 

 a first favourite and dear to everyone, and some 

 would gladly think he is a better bird, in the 

 sense of being gentler, sweeter-tempered, more 

 affectionate and hitman, than other feathered 

 creatures. But it is not so, the tender expression 

 of his large dark eye is deceptive. , The late Mr. 



