100 THE ROBIN. 



have singled out the red-breast amongst all the 

 feathered tribe, to do them the last sad act of 

 kindness. They had been barbarously left to 

 perish, and had died of cold and want. Cock- 

 robin found them; and he is described as 

 bringing leaves in his mouth, and covering 

 their dead bodies with them. 



" Their pretty lips with black-berries 

 Were all besmeared and dyed ; 

 And when they saw the darksome night, 

 They laid them down and cried. 



" No burial these pretty babes 

 Of any man receives, 

 Till robin-redbreast, painfully, 

 Did cover them with leaves. " 



This ballad has something in it peculiarly cal- 

 culated to touch the finest feelings of the 

 human heart. Perhaps, there is not a village 

 or hamlet in England that has not heard what 

 befel the babes in the wood; and how poor 

 cock-robin did all in his power for them when 

 death had closed their eyes. I wish it were in 

 my power to do only half as much in favour of 

 some other birds, as this well-known ballad of 

 The Children in the Wood has done for poor 

 cock-robin. 



