AN AFFECTIONATE ROBIN. 
357 
found in the " Gleanings" of Mr. Jesse, occurred in England, and 
is vouched for by Mr. Jesse himself. A gentleman had directed 
a wagon to be packed with hampers and boxes, intending to 
send it some distance ; its departure was delayed, however, and 
it was placed under a shed, packed as it was. While there, says 
Mr. Jesse, " a pair of robins built their nest among some straw 
in the wagon, and had hatched their young just before it was sent 
away. One of the old birds, instead of being frightened away 
by the motion of the wagon, only left its nest from time to time, 
for the purpose of flying to the nearest hedge for food, for its 
young ; and thus alternately affording warmth and nourishment 
to them, it arrived at Worthing. The affection of this bird hav- 
ing been observed by the wagoner, he took care, in unloading, not 
to disturb the robin's nest ; and my readers will, I am sure, be 
glad to hear that the robin and its young ones returned in safety 
to Walton Heath, being the place from whence they had set out. 
Whether it was the male or the female robin which kept with the 
wagon, I have not been able to ascertain, but most probably the 
latter, as what will not a mother's love and a mother's tenderness 
induce her to perform ? The distance the wagon went in going 
and returning could not have been less than one hundred miles." 
Tuesday, 2>\st. — About a mile from the village, there runs a 
little stream whose waters are darker in color than others in the 
neighborhood, and called, on that account, the Red Brook — the 
first humble tributary of a river which may boast many a bi oad 
and flowing branch, ere it reaches the ocean. It comes toward 
the highway through a narrow ravine thickly shaded by forest- 
trees, and then passing beneath a bridge, winds through open 
meadows until it joins the river. This little stream turns a saw- 
