90 
POPULAR HISTORY OP BIRDS. 
the side of this little brown explorer. But^ oh ! unmindful 
nightingale ! a broader, brighter eye was bent over thee — 
the eye that never slumbers nor sleeps — as thou screenedst 
thyself in the orange branches. If even young ravens that 
call on Our Father are fed from His hands, and the sparrow, 
sitting alone on the house-top, does not fall to the ground 
unobserved or uncared for, surely thou art ever seen and 
watched in the rose-gardens of the East, and the green cop- 
pices of English woods — dear pilgrim of music and beauty, 
I think thou art God^s missionary, publishing abroad His 
wonders and love among the trees, most eloquent when the 
world is stillest^.^^ 
In Australia, the place of our familiar robin is more than 
supplied by an allied genus called Petroica, of which there 
are several species, the males of which are generally black 
above, the wing prettily varied with white, the crown in 
some capped with scarlet (P. Goodenovii), while in most 
there is a white patch just above the bill; the under side is 
white or greyish-white, the breast having a gorget of ver- 
milion, scarlet, or pink-coloured feathers, varying in the spe- 
cies. The females are somewhat similarly plumed with their 
partners, brown however taking the place of the fine deep 
* Journal of Summer-time in the Country, pp. 29-32. 
