20 THE BIRDS OF YORKSHIRE. 



at Spurn ; and the late Canon Atkinson frequently observed 

 large numbers in autumn, after bilberries on the moors are 

 exhausted, come into his garden at Danby to feed on what 

 fruit may be available (" Moorland Parish," p. 321). 



The majority of the earlier immigrants are young of both 

 sexes and old females — these are often difficult to distinguish 

 amongst a hedgeful of Blackbirds, except by their note and 

 greyer look — the old cocks generally come later, at the end of 

 October. The numerous specimens then obtained and 

 examined have been in winter plumage, the males, which 

 largely predominate, having the gorget dull white, the 

 feathers of the throat, breast, and abdomen edged with 

 greyish white. 



On several occasions single birds have been obtained in 

 the county in mid-winter, namely, at Holmfirth on 25th 

 December 1855 (Morris's Nat. 1856, iv. p. 93) ; at Oxenhope, 

 near Keighley, on 2nd February 1856 {torn. cit. p. 92) ; at 

 Leeds, in December 1881, and Mr. Smurthwaite of Richmond, 

 stated [op. cit. 1854, iv. p. 81) that it is sometimes obtained 

 in December and January, I have once met with it on 

 the Bilsdale Moors as late as 25th October in 1886. Regarding 

 these birds, it would seem most probable that they are autumn 

 visitants attempting to winter with us, rather than laggard 

 summer visitants or their young. 



Towards the end of April the nest may be found either 

 on the ground on a fiat expanse or sloping bank of heather, 

 or else in the heather fringing the brink of a dell or moorland 

 beck, or concealed in a solitary tuft on a rocky hill side, and 

 it has also been found placed between the stem of a whin bush 

 and the face of the crag. Clutches, consisting of five eggs, 

 are occasionally met with, but four seems to be the usual 

 number. The bird has nested under Cross Fell, in Cumberland, 

 at 2000 feet elevation, and in Wilsden district nests have been 

 known placed upon the lateral branches of firs, and also in 

 the face of stone walls at the edge of the moors. A Ring 

 Ouzel was recorded by John Heppenstall [Zool. 1843, p. 144), 

 to have nested on the bank of a peat drain on Thorne Waste, 



