1885-86.] Edinbitrgh Naturalists' Field Club. 305 



Slimmer months will bring one in contact with both, I can only ex- 

 press the hope that some members of the Club will next season 

 take the trouble to make their acquaintance. 



Take first the Eing-Ousel. As already indicated, it is a migrant, 

 arriving in Scotland about April and departing southwards again 

 in September or October. It seems to return to its old | nesting- 

 ground with marked regularity ; yet, what appears somewhat 

 strange, the numbers of the species show no perceptible increase 

 in any one locality, and this is all the more wonderful! as each 

 pair rear at least four or five young every season. We are there- 

 fore inclined to think that the entire brood, even taken for granted 

 that they still exist, do not accompany their parents on the return 

 journey in spring ; or, if they do, they are not permitted to nest 

 near at hand, but scatter over likely localities in the neighbour- 

 hood, where they supply the place of those whom accident or other 

 causes have prevented from migrating. Occasional specimens may 

 be noticed in winter, but these are clearly exceptions to the 

 general rule. In Glen Urqnhart, Inverness-shire, where as great 

 numbers may be observed as in any other part of Scotland, certain 

 definite localities are selected for their residence, and year after 

 year these are occupied by single pairs — there always being a 

 considerable distance between each couple. This would lead to 

 the belief that each pair monopolise a certain tract, and during the 

 incubating period, until the young have flown at any rate, they 

 adhere very closely to the same spot. There is one particular 

 portion of a mountain-burn in the aforementioned glen where, 

 within a radius of a few hundred yards, a pair of these birds (not, 

 of course, the same pair) have nested for a greater number of years 

 than can be authenticated even by the accommodating memory of 

 that venerable and often-quoted impostor, " the oldest inhabitant." 

 As a sequel to this affection for the same spots, it may be as well to 

 indicate shortly the class of country frequented by the species. 

 On arriving in Britain it immediately hies to the wilder and more 

 mountainous regions, shunning the lowland, wooded, and culti- 

 vated parts. Eocky hillsides, where scattered clumps of juniper 

 and whin bushes break iip the bare monotony of the scenery ; the 

 banks of mountain-burns, which, in the course of centuries, have 

 worn for themselves deep and rugged channels ; high-lying Fir 

 plantations, — all these are favourite resorts. In the Highlands 

 particularly, the home of the Ring - Ousel is associated with 

 scenes of the wildest and most picturesque grandeur ; and it 

 is no unusual circumstance, when resting by the side of one of 

 those lovely ravines that occur in such numbers among the muir- 

 land solitudes, to be startled by the sudden sharp "tuk-tuk"of 

 this bird, who, by his gestures as well as his voice, seems to 

 resent intrusion into his haunts. 



