140 
THE REDBREAST. 
and the Wren (Troglodytes vulgaris). These two birds 
have for centuries, from some unexplained cause, been 
always associated together. The country people, in 
many parts of England, still regard them as the male 
and female of one species, and support their assertion 
with an old couplet— 
“ The robin-redbreast and the wren 
Are God Almighty’s cock and hen.” 
In these days, when so much more attention is paid to 
ornithology than formerly, it will be hardly necessary to 
observe that the two birds thus associated together are 
not only of very distinct species, but belong to widely 
different genera. 
An old name for the redbreast is “ ruddock ” # the 
meaning of which is illustrated in the word “ ruddy and 
the bird is still known by this name in some parts of 
England. 
Shakespeare has thus named it in one of his most 
beautiful passages :— 
“ With fairest flowers 
Whilst summer lasts, and I live here, Fidele, 
I ’ll sweeten thy sad grave : thou shalt not lack 
The flower that’s like thy face, pale primrose, nor 
The azur’d hare-bell, like thy veins ; no, nor 
The leaf of eglantine, whom not to slander, 
“ The ruddock warbles soft."—S penser’s Epitlialamium , I. 82. 
