CHAPTER XLIV. 



The robin. 



Sylvia ruhecula, Lin. ; Rouge Gorge, Buf. ; Das Rothkelchen, 

 Bech. ; Erythaca ruhecula ; Motacilla rubeoula. 



Description and Charactee. — This familiar bird, so much 

 endeared to everyone who delights in our feathered choristers, 

 is somewhat comely to look upon, and has a very sweet and 

 plaintive song, although, from the dolorous way in which it is 

 uttered, it is somewhat tinctured with melancholy. The Robin 

 is very social in his disposition, visiting frequently those houses 

 in country places to which a garden is attached ; and he also 

 comes hopping around the doors of those people who supply 

 him with food in the winter time, when the frost and snow 

 prevent him obtaining his usual food in the fields and gardens. 

 He will frequently, if the door of a house be left open, venture 

 inside, for he is a bold fellow, and as courageous as any bird 

 living. He is faithful to those who befriend him, and quite 

 capable of appreciating any acts of kindness shown to him, and 

 will generally reward his benefactors with a degree of confidence 

 rarely found in other birds. The Robin averages o^in. in 

 length, from the tip of the bill to the end of the tail, and is 

 inclined to be chubby, being full in the head and breast, with 

 large, penetrating eyes. The forehead, or brow, extending to 

 the back part of the eye, and the throat and breast, are, in 

 an adult male, of a deep orange red ; the upper part of the 

 head, back, and wing coverts, are of a neutral olive brown ; the 

 belly is greyish white ; the vent, rump, and sides of the breast, 

 are of a pale grey, tinctured with a light brown shade ; the neck 



