3 o THE ROBIN. 



of the upper mandible ; the head, back of the neck, and tail, 

 is black ; the back and rump, an ash colour ; the wings are 

 black, edged with light ash ; the inner tips of the two exterior 

 tail-feathers are white ; three small spots of white border the 

 eye; the throat and upper part of the breast is black, the 

 former streaked with white ; the whole of the rest of the breast, 

 down as far as the thighs, is of a dark orange ; belly and vent, 

 white, slightly waved with dusky ash ; legs, dark brown ; claws, 

 black and strono;. The colours of the female are more of the 

 light ash, less deepened with black ; and the orange on the 

 breast is much paler, and more broadly skirted with white. 

 The name of this bird bespeaks him a bird of passage, as are 

 all the different species of thrushes we have ; but the one we 

 are now describing being more unsettled, and continually 

 roving about from one region to another, during fall and 

 winter, seems particularly entitled to the appellation. Scarce 



fallen, from their stocks, or have been, already consumed by these and 

 many other tribes that subsist upon them. Very few are quite solitary : 

 during the breeding season they all separate, but after the broods have 

 been raised, they congregate either in very large flocks or in groups of 

 five or six. Those of smaller numbers generally either become more 

 domestic, and approach dwellings and cultivated districts on the ap- 

 proach of winter, or retire entirely to the depths of solitary forests. 

 Those that congregate in large flocks are always remarkably shy, suffer 

 persons to approach with difficulty, and have a sentinel or watch on the 

 look out, to warn them of danger. Their cry is harsh and sharp, or 

 shrill and monotonous, except during the season of incubation, when 

 they all produce strains of more interest. Some possess great melody, 

 and in others the notes are remarkably pensive and melancholy. On this 

 account they are universal favourites ; and the early song of the mavis 

 is watched for, by those residing much in the country, as the harbinger 

 of a new season and brighter days. The true thrushes are all inhabi- 

 tants of woods, and only from the necessity of procuring food resort to 

 the open countries. In distribution, they range over the world, and the 

 proportion seems pretty equal ; India and Southern Europe may, per- 

 haps, have the most extensive list, and North America will rank in the 

 least proportion. They are often used as articles of food, and the im- 

 mense havoc made among the Northern robins of our author will show 

 the estimation in which they are held as luxuries for the table ; in 

 Spain and Italy, great numbers are taken for the same purpose, with 



