506 TEE ZOOLOGIST. 



ORIGINAL SKETCHES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 

 By H. S. Davenport. 



The Redbreast (Erithacus rubecula). 



A few years ago a lady whom I knew very well, and who 

 resided at Halstead Grange in this county, Mrs. Chester by 

 name, published a small brochure detailing some extraordinary 

 incidents in connection with two Redbreasts that had lost their 

 bills in traps set to catch mice, and subsequently sought her 

 protection and kindly favour. One bird, so far as I remember, 

 lived in the house, chiefly in her bedroom, and would come 

 almost at any time to her call, while the other passed its time 

 out of doors, but was equally tame ; and if any of the readers of 

 these notes meet with the pamphlet in question, they will find 

 recorded that the latter of the two birds was in the habit of 

 accompanying the carriage when Mrs. Chester went out to pay 

 calls, and that, on one occasion, when her carriage was announced 

 for her departure, the Robin was announced at the same time. 

 Mr. Knox's reference to apocryphal anecdotes is still ringing in 

 my ears, but I merely relate the gist of what I have read with my 

 own eyes and seen attested by the signature of the lady who 

 published the story. 



The nesting-sites chosen by the Redbreast are many and 

 varied. In ' The Vertebrate Animals of Leicestershire and Rut- 

 land ' instances are recorded of this species having bred in an 

 old tea-kettle tossed aside into a hedge, also in a flower-pot and 

 in a meat-tin ; but illustrations of the kind might be multiplied 

 indefinitely. 



The average clutch in my experience is six eggs ; I have 

 taken seven, and regard eight as quite unusual. Sometimes 

 perfectly white eggs, without spot or speck, are met with, and 

 this beautiful variety was not uncommon in my schoolboy days 

 in Herefordshire. I took a clutch of this character near to 

 Ashlands in May, 1880. 



