L16 REUMRKAST.
light nifrht«, and one kept in a cage lias been known to sing when
candles were brought into the room, and when there was music, to
rival it with all its power. During the severe frost of the vcar 1838,
ten or twelve Robins were found collected together under some old
fir trees at Ashley Park, some dead, and others in a dying state.
Of a Redbreast kept in confinement Mr. Couch writes, ' O n placing
a mirror near its cage, it immediately expressed the recognition of its
fellow by a particular low and sweet note, and would give vent to its
satisfaction in a loud song. In fine weather this bird was generally
placed outside, and daily carolled his glad notes to his own image
reflected from the window.' One taken in a trap was accompanied bv
a companion even into the house into which it was taken. In some
instances they arc sociable and friendly with other birds kept in confinement
with them.
Nidificatiou commences very early in the spring, and the eggs are
usually laid about the beginning of Vpiil, hut young birds have often
been found in the nest by the end of March. A nest with two young
in it and an addled egg were found near East Looe, Cornwall, by Mr.
Stephen Ologg, on the 11th. of March, 18(12. In backward seasons
they are usually later. Mr. Macgillivray mentions one seen on the 9th.
of May, 1831, and another on the 2nd. of June, 1837, which he
believed to be the first brood of that year; I have heard of another
in June also. A Robin's nest, containing several eggs, was taken near
fork the first week in February, 1814, there being snow on the ground
at the time, and the temperature ranging from 30° to 23° Fahrenheit:
another which had five eggs, was found at Moreton in the Marsh, in
the second week of January, 1818; another with the like number nf
eggs, in a garden at Wheldrakc, near York, the 10th. of the same
mouth; and one, also with eggs, near Relfast, on the 20th. of February,
i s Hi. \ nesf with two eggs, on which the hen bird was sitting, was
found near the end of November, 1851, at Oribton, Dumfriesshire,
the seat of Francis Maxwell, Esq.
The nest of the Robin, "which is built of fine stalks, moss, dried
leaves, and grass, and lined with hair and wool, with sometimes a few
feathers, is generally placed on a bank under the shelter of a bush,
or sometimes in a bush itself, or even a tree, such as a yew, at a
low height from the ground, and occasionally in a hole in a wall
covered with ivy, a crevice in a rock, among fern and tangled roots
—the entrance perhaps being through some very narrow aperture, or
an ivy-clad tree. 1 have found one in a hollow apparently made
by the bird, in a heap of grass, and have seen another on the level
ground at the foot of a tree. I have heard of one built in a hedge
at a height of about three feet from the ground. It measures about
five inches and three quarters across, and two and a half in internal
diameter. It is concealed with great care aud success.
His late Majesty King William the Fourth had a part of the mizenmast
of the Victory, against which Lord Nelson was standing when
he was mortally wounded, placed in a building in (he grounds of
Rushy Park when he resided there. A large shot had passed
through this part of the mast, aud in the hole it had left, a pair of
Robins built their nest and reared their young. The relic was afterwards
removed to the dining-room of the house, and is now in the
armoury of Windsor Castle. 'VICTORIA pacem!'
' A Robin,' says Mr. Jesse, 'lately began its nest in a myrtle which
was placed in the hall of a house belonging to a friend of mine
in Hampshire. As the situation wTas considered rather an objectionable
one, the nest was removed. The bird then began to build
another on the cornice of the drawing-room, but as this was a still
more violent intrusion, it was not allowed to be completed. The
Robin, thus baffled in two attempts, began a third nest in a new
shoo, which was placed on a shelf in my friend's drawing-room. It
was permitted to go on with its work until the nest was completed,
but as the new shoe was likely to be wanted, and as it would not
be benefited by being used as a cradle, the nest was carefully taken
out, and deposited in an old shoe, which was put in the situation
of the new one. Here what remained to be done to the nest was
completed; the under part of the shoe was filled up with oak leaves,
the eggs were deposited in the nest, and in due time hatched, the
windows of the room being always left a little open for the entrance
and egress of the birds. My friend informed me that it was pleasing
to see the great confidence the Robins placed in him. Sometimes, in
the morning, the old birds would settle on the top of his glass, nor
did they seem the least alarmed at his presence'
A loft is frequently built in, and in one instance, the nest having been
obliged to be removed, for an alteration to be made in the wall, the
hen bird did not forsake it, though placed elsewhere, even while
dislodged mortar and stones fell dangerously near her. A nest was
placed on a shelf in a pantry, among some four-sided bottles, so
that it was made of a square shape. When the housekeeper had to
go in for any article, the bird, instead of flying out of the window,
as might have been expected, alighted on the floor till she had gone,
when it immediately returned to its uest. The eggs were eventually
forsaken, and a new nest, the work probably of the same bird, was
made in the room over it, which happened to be a workshop for a