BLUEBREAST. 37 
southwards in the autumn, the former at the end of March 
or beginning of April, the latter in the end of August or 
beginning of September. They perform their migrations in 
large flights, ‘compagnions de voyage.’ 
This species has a habit of continually spreading its tail, 
which it also moves up and down after the manner of the 
Redbreast. It is thought very good for the table, and is 
often served up on the continent. Like the Robin, it is 
of solitary and pugnacious habits, but may readily be kept 
in confinement, and becomes very familiar. It roosts upon 
the ground, and is fond of bathing itself. 
In its flight also, which is performed near the ground, and 
is a series of springs, it resembles that species. It does not 
run, but advances quickly by hopping, the wings drooped 
and the tail elevated, and when stationary, stands very 
upright, displaying the beautiful cerulean blue of its breast, 
and the small white cloud on its centre. 
Its food consists of insects and their larve, worms, and 
berries. 
The note is described as very pleasing, and Bechstein says 
that it is of a double sound. It utters its song from the 
top of some bush, the tail outspread at the time, from 
whence, if alarmed, it drops into the concealment of the 
underwood beneath. It also sings in the air, rising to a 
moderate height, where it disports itself in the way that the 
Wood Lark does, and descending to a resting-place some 
little distance off: it is said to sing during the night. If 
the nest be approached, it utters a note of anger or alarm: 
its song is commenced with the earliest dawn of day. The 
ordinary note is described by Meyer as resembling the 
words ‘tack, tack,’ ‘feed, feed.’ 
The nest is placed on the ground, among the larger herbage, 
on the sides of banks, and among low brushwood. It is 
well concealed, and is composed of dried grass and a little 
moss, the ‘glossoane of the reed, leaves, small stalks, and 
roots, and is lined with finer moss, hair, and the beautiful 
down of the cotton-grass. There are two broods, and the 
first is sometimes on the wing so early as the end of May. 
The male assists the female in the work of incubation. 
The eggs are four or five, or six in number, and of a 
greenish blue colour. The shell is very delicate and fragile. 
Male; length, five inches and a half to six inches; bill, 
dark brown at the tip, the remainder yellowish, lightest at 
