Red-Breast

Richard and Cherry Kearton

1902

White 127

The 1902 edition of Gilbert White's The Natural History of Selborne

White had much to say about what is probably Britain's favourite bird, including an acknowledgement of their less welcome characteristics: "Red-breasts sing all through the spring, summer, and autumn. The reason that they are called autumn songsters is, because in the two first seasons their voices are drowned and lost in the general chorus; in the latter their song becomes distinguishable. Many songsters of the autumn seem to be the young cock red-breasts of that year: notwithstanding the prejudices in their favour, they do much mischief in gardens to the summer-fruits.... [To this he adds a note:]They eat also the berries of the ivy, the honeysuckle, and the euonymus europæus, or spindle-tree" (104).