REDBREAST. 95 
response until the other has ended what it had to say. The 
ordinary note is a ‘tsit, tsit,’ frequently accompanied by an 
upward flirt of the tail, and a shuffle of the wings. If 
alarmed for its young, the note of the Robin is peculiarly 
wailing. 
‘In a wild condition, says Mr. Couch, ‘birds of the same 
species will not sing near each other; and if the approach be 
too close, and the courage equal, a battle follows. Redbreasts 
offer a frequent example of this, and if an intruder ventures 
on the accustomed domain, the song may be low and warbling, 
or apparently reserved or suppressed, and neither of them will 
appear to condescend to notice the efforts of its competitor. 
But this restramt cannot endure long; the music becomes 
more developed—it rises higher; the attack is sudden, and 
the fight so violent, that they fall to the ground together, 
and one is killed, or both may be taken with the hand.’ 
Two, fighting in the air, fell together into a hat. that hap- 
pened to be lying on the ground, and were both captured; 
on one occasion two of these birds caught fighting in a yard 
at Belfast were kept all night in separate cages; one was 
given its liberty early in the morning, and the other, 
seeming tamer, was kept with the intention of being per- 
manently retained; so unhappy, however, did it appear, that 
it too was released. The other then came and attacked it 
again, when the tamer bird was again captured, and the 
wilder one flew away. In the evening, when the coast 
seemed to be clear, the former was again let go, but the 
other, from some ambush, again attacked, and this time 
killed it. One kept in a greenhouse at Merville, in the 
county of Antrim, killed every intruder of its own species, 
amounting to about two dozen, that entered the house; and 
and on an examination of three of the victims, a deep 
wound was found in the neck of each, evidently made by 
the bill of their antagonist. Another pair fighting, were 
singularly separated by a Duck, which went up to them for 
the evident purpose of parting them. Another pair fought 
till the leg and wing of one were broken. 
‘In speaking of the Robin,’ says Mr. Jesse, ‘I may observe 
that when they sing late in the autumn, it appears to be 
from rivalship, and that there are always two singing at the 
same time. If one of them is silenced, the other immediately 
ceases its song. I observe also that they always sing while 
they are preparing to fight with each other. The Redbreast 
