robin1 (robin)

[Short for robin - redbreast, early early mod. E. robyn redbrest, E. Ru E. Rupert ), OHG. Ruodpert, MHG. G. Ruprecht, lit. 'fame-bright,' illustrious in fame, ult. E. Roger: see Roger ) jer ) = Icel. hrothr, praise, fame, Goth. * hroth, in hrotheigs, victorious, triumphant) + perht, peraht, MHG. berht = E. bright1: see bright1.] 1. A small sylviine bird of Europe, IMG:content-2390.jpg:[blocks in formation] Robin-redbreast ( Erythacus rubecula). bird, widely distributed in other parts of the Pale arctic region. The song is rich, mellow, and finely modulated. The nest is placed on the ground, in herbage or mo , generally under a hedge or bush. The eggs are usually five or six in number, pinkish-white freckled with purplish-red. This robin is a common figure in English nursery tales and folk-lore. Art thou the bird whom Man loves best, The pious bird with the scarlet breast, Our little English Robin ? Words worth, Redbreast Chasing the Butterfly. robin A strange world where the robin was a little domestic bird that fed at the table, instead of a great fidgety, jerky, whooping thrush. O. W. Holmes , Old Vol. of Life, p. 172. 2. The red-breasted or migratory thrush of North America, Turdus migrator i us or Merula migrator i a, one of the most abundant and fa American Robin ( Merula migrator i a). miliar of North American birds: so called from the reddish-brown color of the under parts, which, however, is very different, both in hue breast. This robin is 10 inches long and 16 in extent of wings. The upper parts are slate-color with an olive shade; most of the under parts are chestnut-red; the vent-feathers are white, with dusky markings; the head is black, with white marks about the eyes and white streaks on the throat; and the tail is blackish, usually marked with white at the ends of the outer feathers. The bill is mostly yellow. The robin inhabits the whole of North America; it is migratory, feeds on insects, worms, berries, and other fruits, and breeds at large throughout its range, building a large strong nest of hay and mud on a bough, and laying from four to six uniform greenish-blue eggs, 11⁄2 inches long by inch broad. Also, familiarly, robin redbreast. 3. With a qualifying term, one of numerous warbler-like or thrush-like birds, more or le nearly related to or resembling either of the foregoing: as, the blue-throated robin. (See Cyanecula, and cut under bluethroat.) Some of these terms are book-names, others are casual transfers of the word robin by English residents in various parts of the world, especially India and Australia. In the latter region are various flycatchers ( Muscicapidæ ) of the genus Petræca and its subdivisions, some of which are called robins, as the scarlet-breasted, P. multicolor, peculiar to Norfolk Island. Some of the Asiatic chats of the genus Pratin cola are known as Indian robins; these are related to the British whinchat and stonechat, and do not particularly resemble the true robin of England. Others, recently separated generically under the name Erythromyias, inhabit Java, Sumatra, Borneo, and other islands of the same zoögeographical region, and resemble the true robin, as E. dumetoria and E. muelleri. The red-breasted flycatcher, Muscicapa ( Erythrosterna ) parva, which ranges from central Europe into India, bears a striking resemblance to the true robin. Among other Indian robins, loosely so called, may be noted one sometimes specified as the water - robin. This is a flycatcher, Xanthopygia fuliginosa, originally described by Vigors in 1831 as Phœnicura fuliginosa, and commonly catalogued as Ruticilla fuliginosa (after G. R. Gray); but it does not belong to the same family as the robin, nor to the same genus as the redstart. It inhabits the Him a lay an region, and ranges widely in China and India. It has been placed in 5 different genera, two of which, Rhy acorn is of Blanford and Nymphæus of A. O. Hume, were specially framed for its reception. 4. The robin-snipe or red-breasted sandpiper, Tringa canutus: a clipped name among gunners. Also beach - robin. See knot2, 1.-5. The sea-robin or red-breasted merganser, Mergus serr at or. [Ma achusetts.] -6. In ichth., a searobin or flying-robin; one of several kinds of Triglidæ.-7. A local name of the pinfish. [U.S.]-8. A name variously applied (commonly as part of a compound) to the herb-robert, to species of Lychnis, and to some other plants. Red- robin denotes, besides the wheat-rust, the herb-robert, the Lychnis diurna, etc. See ragged - robin and wake - robin. [Prov. Eng.]- Golden robin, the Baltimore oriole, Icterus galbula.-Ground robin, the chewink. See marsh - robin, and cut under Pipilo. [Local, U. S.]-Magpie robin, a dayal. See cut under Copsichus. - Oregon robin, the varied thrush, Turdus nævius or Hesperocichla nævia. - Red robin, the scarlet tanager. [Local, U. S.] - Robin redbreast. See robin - redbreast.-Robin's-egg blue, a greenish blue, like that of the American robin's egg. - Round robin. See round - robin, 5.- Sea robin. See sea - robin. St. Lucas robin, Turdus or Merula conf in is, much like but specifically distinct from the common American robin, inhabiting Lower California. - Water-robin. See def. 3.Yellow robin, an Australian bird of the genus Eopsaltria. robin't (rob'in), n. [Appar. ult. due to the F. name Robin: see robin1.] A trimming on the front of a dre . Davies. Several pieces of printed calico, remnants of silk, and such like, that. would serve for robins and facings. Richardson, Pamela, I. xxix. robin3, n.. Same as robbin2 . 5203