34 THE RING OUZEL. 



Blyth and Broadshawrig, — also that it is rare in the neigh- 

 bourhood of Earlston, although it is occasionally found on 

 the Black Hill. In his account of the birds of Lauder- 

 dale, Mr. Kelly says that on Longcroft Water, far up among 

 the junipers, Eing Ouzels have their stated visits every 

 year, and that they are clamorous when they are approached 

 in the breeding season.^ Mr. J. L. Mack, Coveyheugh, 

 informs me that, in the first week of September 1885, he 

 noticed a dozen of these birds lying dead in the garden of 

 the Eev. E. B. Smith, minister of Cranshaws, who had shot 

 them while they were destroying his fruit. A specimen 

 was observed near the " Cockit Hat " Plantation on Lam- 

 berton Moor, in April 1883, by the gamekeeper at 

 Mordington, It does not often visit the lower parts of the 

 county. Miss Georgina S. Milne-Home saw one on the 

 lawn at Milne Graden, about the beginning of October 1885, 

 which would probably be on migration southwards. 



The food of this species consists of worms, snails, 

 slugs, beetles, and other insects, with fruit and various wild 

 berries, including those of the rowan tree {Pyrus aucuparia), 

 blae-berry (Vaccinium myrtilhis), and cranberry {Vaccinium 

 oxy coccus). Colonel Brown of Longformacus has told me 

 that it feeds in great numbers on the rowan berries at Dye 

 Cottage in September and October, and that it leaves the 

 moors as soon as they are done. It also eats haws, and 

 helps itself to the fruit in gardens near its haunts. 



The nest of the Eing Ouzel, which is somewhat like that 

 of the Blackbird, is often placed on the ground, amongst 

 bushes, in such situations as a bank by the side of a stream ; 

 but it is occasionally built under a rocky ledge, or in a 

 stunted tree. The eggs, which are four or five in number, 

 are bluish green, blotched with reddish brown, and are 



1 Hist. Ber. Nat. Club, vol. vii. p. 303. 



