THE REDBREAST. 
There is a lady -friend of mine at Enfield who has a large 
troop of bird pensioners of one sort and another, who are the 
constant recipients of her bonnty through the winter. Among 
the rest was a knowing old robin whom she called “ Samuel.” 
He, however, was a bird of independent habits, and would not 
be beholden to his benefactress for a crumb, only when he was 
completely starved out of the woods and gardens. As soon as 
the winter gave signs of breaking, Samuel would be off to look 
for his living, and seldom made his appearance till the fall of 
the year. One October afternoon the lady in question was 
out walking at least three miles from home ; suddenly we heard 
a sharp “ chik, chik ” from a hedge near at hand, and imme- 
diately a robin flew past, within a yard of us. “ That is 
marvellously like my Samuel,” said the lady. “ Sam ! Sam !” 
“ Chik, chik, chik,” replied the bird, and again brushed near 
us. This was repeated at least a dozen times, and ended in 
the truant Samuel following his mistress right home. He at 
once took up his quarters in the garden behind the house, and 
abided there all the winter. 
Superstition concerning the Redbreast. — The amount of 
superstition respectmg the robin that is displayed by people 
of the lower, and I should, perhaps, say the lowest classes, is 
almost incredible. It is universally believed by them that the 
redbreast never lives longer than thirty days in confinement. 
Even among bird-fanciers of the lower order this belief is 
prevalent; they won’t keep them for sale, and when, on one 
occasion, I pressed a fancier for his reasons, he replied, “ Well, 
some says it makes no difference, and some say it ain’t lucky 
to have robins in the house ; anyhow, I likes to be on the safe 
side, so I don’t have no truck with ’em.” 
So settled and deep-rooted is the prejudice among the poor 
against robin-keeping, that several rhyming proverbs are 
known among them, deprecatory of the practice. One is, — 
“ Robins and swallows 
Are God’s own scholars.” 
You perceive it is necessary to pronounce swallows “ swal- 
lars ” to make the rhyme perfect, but with some people this is 
no great difficulty. Another runs, — 
“ When you go to catch a robin, 
Mind you don’t come back a sobbin’.” 
A third is, — 
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