There are few birds which 
are more familiar to us than the 
Redbreast or Robin, a bird 
which is woven among our earliest 
recollections, through the medium 
of the Children in the Wood, 
and the mournful ballad of the 
Death and Burial of Poor Cock 
Robin. 
Although the Redbreast re- 
mains in England throughout 
the winter, it is very susceptible 
to cold, and one of the first birds 
to seek for shelter, its appearance 
among the outhouses being always 
an indication of coming incle- 
mency. In cold weather, the 
Redbreast seldom perches upon 
twigs and branches, but crouches in holes, or sits upon the ground. The 
bird seems strongly attached to man and his home, and will follow the 
ploughman over the fields, picking up the worms which he turns up with 
the ploughshare, or enter his house and partake of his evening meal. Both 
bold and shy, the Redbreast is a most engaging bird, and seldom fails of 
receiving the affection of those to whom he attaches himself. One of these 
birds was exceedingly familiar with all our family, his acquaintance having 
commenced through the medium of some crumbs from our hands, and would 
always come to us whenever we called his name, “Bobby/' Sometimes he 
would accompany us on our way to church through 'the lanes, and I have even 
seen him keeping pace with us along the one-sided street of Oxford, that is 
appropriately named Long Wall. 
While hopping and feeding about the ground, it is wonderful to see what 
large worms and insects the little bird will devour. Should the worm be too 
large for him to swallow entire, as indeed is mostly the case, he tosses it about 
with his beak, bangs it against the ground, flings it over his head, jumps on it, 
and when he has thus mashed it into a pulp, pulls it to bits, and devours it 
piecemeal. 
The colour of the male Robin is bright olive-brown on the back, orange-red on 
the throat, chin, breast, forehead, and round the eye. A stripe of blue-grey 
runs round the red, and the abdomen and lower part of the breast are white. 
The bill and eyes are black. 
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