[Illustration]
Motacilla rubecula, LINNÆUS; Le Rouge-gorge, BUFFON; Das
Rothkelchen, BECHSTEIN.
The red-breast is almost universally known in Europe. It is five inches
and three quarters long, two and a quarter of which belong to the tail.
The beak is five lines in length, and horn brown, with the lower base
and the inside yellow; the iris is deep brown; the shanks, eleven lines
in height, are of the same colour; the forehead, cheeks, and under part
of the body, from the beak to the bottom of the breast, are orange red;
the upper part of the body and the wing-coverts dingy olive; the first
wing-coverts have at their tip a little triangular spot.
The female, which is rather smaller, is not so orange-coloured on the
forehead, and this colour is not so bright upon the breast; the shanks
are a purplish brown; yellow spots are almost always absent from the
wing-coverts; the old females alone having very small yellow marks.
The males of the first year, which are caught in the spring, very much
resemble the females: they have but very small yellow spots, and
sometimes none; the breast is saffron yellow; but the feet are the
distinguishing mark, being always very dark brown.
This species has varieties, as the white red-breast and the variegated
red-breast. In confinement, by sometimes removing successively the
quill-feathers and tail-feathers out of the moulting season, they will
at last be replaced by white ones. These birds are very pretty; I have
had several in this way, but I have observed that these last feathers
are so weak and delicate that they are easily injured and broken. This
repeated operation must give pain to the little creatures, on which
account it should be avoided.
HABITATION.--When wild, these birds are found in abundance during the
period of migration, on hedges and bushes, but in summer they must be
sought in the woods. "This retreat," it has been said, "is necessary
to their happiness: the male is engrossed with the society of his
mate, all other company is troublesome; he pursues eagerly the birds
of his species, and drives them from the district he has chosen for
himself; the same bush never contains two pairs of these birds." The
red-breasts return to us (in Germany) about the middle of March[92];
they stop for about a fortnight in the hedges, and then proceed into
the woods. In October they return towards the bushes, which they
busily search as they travel, and proceed gradually to their
destination. Some delay their departure till November, some will even
remain here and there throughout the winter, but generally to their
cost, as their life is usually sacrificed by these delays. Necessity
then forces them to draw near to houses, dunghills, and stables,
where they are generally caught by men or cats, or die of hunger and
cold if the frost is long and severe, and the snow deep. Care must be
taken in hard weather not to transport them suddenly into a warm
room, the rapid change from cold to heat invariably kills them. They
should at first be put in a cold room, and be gradually accustomed to
warm air; with these precautions they will do as well as those which
are caught in the autumn or spring.
In confinement the inhabitants of my neighbourhood like to see
red-breasts hopping about the room, and they make a roost for them of
oak or elm branches. They find that this bird destroys flies and even
bugs. Such a situation appears to agree with him very well, as he
lives in this way from ten to twelve years. He is so jealous and
unsociable that he must not have a companion; he must be quite alone;
a second would cause battles which would end only with the death of
one of the combatants; if, however, they are equal in strength, and
in a large room, they will divide it, and each taking possession of
his half, they remain in peace, unless one should pass his limits, in
which case war begins, and is maintained to the last extremity.
In order the better to enjoy their pretty song, they are provided
with a cage generally resembling that of the nightingale.
FOOD.--When wild the red-breast feeds on all sorts of insects, which
are pursued with great skill and agility; sometimes this bird is seen
fluttering like a butterfly round a leaf on which is a fly, or if he
sees an earth-worm he hops forward flapping his wings, and seizes it.
In autumn he eats different sorts of berries.
In confinement, by giving him at first some earth or meal worms, and
in the autumn elderberries, he soon gets accustomed to eat anything:
he picks up crumbs of bread, the little fibres of meat, and the like,
but cheese appears his favourite food. When hopping about the
bird-room he likes the universal paste very much[93]. He chiefly
requires a regular supply of fresh water, both for drinking and
bathing; and he makes himself so wet as to conceal the colours of his
plumage.
BREEDING.--The red-breast lays twice a year. The nest, placed near the
ground, either among moss, in the crevices of stones, among the roots
of a tree, or in the hole of an old felled trunk, is carelessly
formed of moss, lined with fine hay, hair, and feathers. She lays
from four to six eggs, of a yellowish white, with lines and spots
joined and mixed together of a reddish colour; the colours become
deeper as the spots approach the large end, where they form a crown
of a light brown colour. The young birds are at first covered with
yellow down, like chickens, they then become grey, and their feathers
are edged with dusky yellow; they do not acquire the orange red till
they have moulted. They are easily reared on white bread soaked in
boiled milk. When their cage is placed beside a nightingale they
acquire some parts of his song, which, introduced into their own,
make a very pretty mixture.
DISEASES.--Their most common disorder is diarrhoea, for which some
spiders are administered. Decline is often cured with plenty of ants'
eggs and meal-worms; but indigestion often proves fatal, especially
when it arises from having eaten too many earth-worms. It may,
however, be cured by making the bird swallow spiders and meal-worms.
MODE OF TAKING.--In spring, when the red-breasts frequent the hedges
and bushes, sticks are passed transversely through them, on which
limed twigs are fastened, then two persons gently beat the hedge or
bush to drive the birds towards the twigs, where they are soon
caught, for red-breasts have the habit of perching on all the little
low projecting branches, in order that they may discover earth-worms.
This sort of red-breast chase is very common in Thuringia, where many
persons keep them. Limed twigs may also be put in a bare place with
earth or meal-worms, just as for the dunnock. The small nightingale
net and the white-throat trap catch many. They are also caught at the
water trap; but the greatest number are caught in autumn with the
noose, baited with elderberries, which are at that season their
favourite food. If they are caught for the room (and it is a pity to
hunt so pretty a bird for the table), it is necessary, in order to
preserve their feet, to cover the springes with felt or cork.
ATTRACTIVE QUALITIES.--His pretty plumage, tricks, and great
sociability would be enough to make him charming. He is soon tamed,
so as to come upon the table and eat from a plate or the hand; his
cheerfulness and agility must also give pleasure, always in motion,
and bowing after every hop and calling "_sisri_;" but he is
particularly valued on account of his song. This song is generally
more perfect and altogether superior when he is caged than when
hopping about the room. There are however exceptions. The red-breast
sings throughout the year, but in spring his voice is most brilliant
and his melody most enchanting. In a country residence it is very
easy to teach this bird to go and come, whether reared from the nest
or caught full grown.