Perching Birds. 



69 



THE 

 BLACK-THROATED 



OUZEL. 

 [Merula atrigularh.) 



Otherwise the general plumage of the bird is black. The Ring-Ouzel is a summer 

 visitor to Northern Europe, and nests in the mountainous parts of Great Britain and 

 in Scandinavia. In habits it much resembles the Blackbird, but prefers the open 

 moorland and the rocky districts. In Norway I have found it nesting at 3500 feet, 

 and inhabiting the scattered birch-woods, visiting the adjacent grass-land to pick 

 up its food. It is always very shy. The nest is similar to that of a Blackbird, but is 

 placed on the ground or close to the latter, though it is sometimes found in the hole 

 of a bank or wall. The eggs are generally four in number and much resemble those 

 of the Blackbird. 



This species {see p. 67) is a much paler bird than the two 

 preceeding, and is of a light olive-brown colour, with the face, 

 throat and chest black ; the axillaries and under wing-coverts 

 are rich chestnut, and the bill is blackish brown, not yellow. 

 The female has the face and throat white, spotted with 

 black on the cheeks, sides of throat and fore-neck ; the breast and the sides of 

 the body are ashy-brown, with dusky brown streaks. The Black-throated Ouzel 

 has only been obtained once m England, a young male having been shot 

 near Lewes in December, 1868. It has occurred on several occasions on the 

 continent of Europe. It breeds in Siberia, in the valley of the Yenesei, and 

 also in central Asia, and is ver)' common in winter throughout the Himalayas, 

 in the higher portion of which chain it is also supposed to nest. The species 

 is said by Seebohm to be very wary in its habits, but he found it to be a 

 noisy and active bird, frequenting the neighbourhood of villages in the Yenesei 

 valley. The nest is not yet described, but the eggs are said to be similar to 

 those of the Blackbird. 



This isone 

 of the true 

 Thrushes, in 

 which the male and female are alike 

 in plumage, and the species is easil}' 

 recognised by its distinct white ej-e- 

 brow, and by the vinous chestnut 

 colour of the axillaries and under 

 wing-coverts, a feature which is very 

 much in evidence when the bird flies. 

 By this red colour of the under sur- 

 face of the wing the species is easil)' 

 told from the Song-Thrush, which 

 has the wing-coverts golden buff 

 below, and so there should not be 

 any difficulty in recognizing the two The Redwing. 



THE REDWING. 



(Turdus ilincHS.) 



