20 REDBREAST. 
have been amusing, had it not been distressing, to view these 
beauteous little creatures, who seemed only formed for harmony 
and love, bristling up with rage, every feather like ‘quills 
upon the fretful porcupine,’ eyes on fire, and their tiny heads 
making circles of defiance before the first collision, which 
always terminated by our separating the combatants, who 
retreated severally to their respective districts; so fieree have 
they been that they have even fought upon our hands.’ The 
broods of the two birds in due season appeared, but were 
of different dispositions, like their parents, or, rather, differently 
educated in consequence of the difference in them. The one 
set came not near at all; the others were brought close to 
the ladies, but the moment the old bird perceived them 
approach too near, he would dash among them with a great 
flutter, and scatter them to a proper distance; he was so™ 
much on the alert, that they never succeeded in attracting 
them, and they disappeared entirely during the summer. Mr. 
Thompson narrates a similar action on the part of the parent 
of a young Robin which followed a relative of his through 
the garden, ate food from his hand, and also gave him its 
‘most sweet company’ by perching on his knee or shoulder 
when he was seated in a garden-chair; this degree of familiarity, 
however, was not at all approved of by an old bird, most 
probably the parent, which several times rushed quickly past 
and drove it away. 
The lady concludes, ‘The only source of annoyance our birds 
had with us, were from the dog and the cat, who occasionally 
accompanied us in our walks,—of the latter they were very 
much afraid, although she was quite amenable to orders, and 
did not attempt to molest them,—but, strange to say, with 
the dog they were much better friends, although, in defiance 
of all correction, he would frequently make a bounce at them, 
but only in play; Terry seemed to know this, often remaining 
quietly on my hand, while Rory stood at my side gazing 
at him, and we were much amused to watch occasionally a 
kind of race between them as they accompanied us down the 
avenue to the front gate, a distance of about two hundred 
and fifty yards, the dog running before us, and the bird flying 
from tree to tree during the whole way and back again.’ 
The Rev. E. I. Moor, in a letter to Mr. Meyer, says, ‘A 
young naval friend of mine, Mr. R. Burroughes, told me that 
as his ship was once in the Bay of Biscay, at a considerable 
distance from any land, a common Robin Redbreast was picked 
