Country Life
Friendly terms
Peter Quince
The young of wild birds and animals pop up all over the place at this time, and particularly in the garden, which is seldom without fledglings of various species scrambling precariously in the undergrowth or on the ground. After a lazy spell on the garden seat in the June sunshine I begin to get the-impression that the place has been converted into an outdoor kindergarten for the various kinds of bird which nest either in cracks and crevices of the house or in trees and hedges nearby.
Today I was kept company by a young robin which flitted about the lawn at my feet, never going more than a few yards away from me for fully half an hour. The young of most birds look more or less like unfinished versions of their parents, but the robins are rather different. The chief characteristic of the parents, the bright red chest, is absent. Instead the plumage is all soft browns, marked with speckles which are quite unlike the smooth feathers of the adult. At the same time the bird is quite unmistakably a robin, both because of its distinctive movements and also because of its uniquely confiding approach to man. It seems to me noteworthy that the robin's proverbial trust in human beings, whom practicallY all forms of wild life regard unquestioningly as the enemY, should so evidently be something that it is born with. This little specimen showed the coolest confidence in my being well-disposed towards him. I got a bit of bread and threw crumbs in his direction' He was not particularly interested, preferring to hunt for his own food among the grass stalks round my feet. Various other birds in the vicinity, however, were very obviously keenly interested in the prospect of a snack of brown bread; these included such thrusting and aggressive species as starlings and house-sparrows, whose general demeanour i5 bolder by far than that of the young robin. Yet they could not summon up the daring to corne Spectator June 29, 1974 Close enough to help themselves to the crumbs. They formed furious little groups at a safe distance, seething with frustration, I dare say, at the 'unconquerable fear Which held them back. Meanwhile the robin hopped unconcernedly about where those tougher, brasher characters dared not venture.
When I moved away there was a loud twittering and scuffling as the sparrows and starlings swooped in to grab the food. The robin, however, chose to follow ine. I got out the watering-can to revive some parched plants and he seemed to be fascinated by the Process, hopping inquisitively beside me, getting himself within a few inches of the jet of water Which had emerged from the spout. He even took a drink from .a drop of iVater which had lodged ul the hollow of a begonia leaf, There cannot have been any desperate thirst to prompt him, since not far away is a birdbath Which he had lately visited. It just seemed to be natural for him to go about his affairs in the company of ,a man, in a proximity which would !`ave put almost all other birds Into a floundering panic. This unusual relationship with humans has long marked out the r9bin as a special case among birds, but it is more commonly Observed in the winter, when food 18 scarce, than in high summer, When it offers no profit to the robin. It is there all the time, nevertheless, for some mysterious r,eason. The balance of fear and Lulerance among wild creatures is a
Complicated and obscure matter
In itself. They live in a state of Perpetual alert against danger, ,Which is almost inconceivable to nthan minds. One has only to tch any wild bird for a few ITIflutes to appreciate that it is feeping up a permanent lookout ,,9r enemies, whatever else it mr-iv 'nhultaneously be doing. Its lif succession of calculated rib. ""Lbsolute safety being unobtain,"le, birds are for ever weighing AnP the hazards around them and neiding how much danger it is PrUdent to court so as to get on \b"tb the business of feeding or reeding. The young robin, for 1;!nfathomable ancestral reasons, acted on the assumption that the 10`rnan danger, which most birds
eat as of cardinal importance,
not apply in his case. I hope NIs trust will not be misplaced. rUbtless he is safe enough as far People are concerned; but ',uere there are people there are c'iten cats.
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