246 BRITISH BIRDS. 
sometimes he is sitting on a tuft of heather, or on a gorse bush, or on the 
branches of some silver birch or mountain-ash, yet, perhaps, most fre- 
quently of all on the summit of a grey boulder. Monotonous as is the 
song of the Ring-Ouzel, still its loud tones and the bold bearing of the bird 
itself fully harmonize with the wild surroundings. You may often see him 
perched on some storm-riven tree growing out of the grey rocks, where, 
with his white breast glistening in the sun, he sits motionless and pours 
forth his wild notes. His song resembles in part that of the Starling, the 
Blackbird, and the Song-Thrush. The bird, after several piping notes, 
utters a few harsh tones, as if in mockery of his own performance, pro- 
bably a minute passing between each snatch of song. If you alarm him, 
his wild notes cease at once, and, with his wild cries echoing in the rocks 
around, he either drops down into the heath or flies away to a more 
secluded resting-place. The claims of the Ring-Ouzel to the rank of a 
first-rate songster may be disputed, and his musical powers be unfavour- 
ably compared with those of the Song-Thrush or the Blackbird; still there 
is a wild freedom in them which gives them a peculiar charm, and the 
wild nature of the surrounding landscape is also much enhanced in beauty 
by a song as clear and melodious in tone as the scenery around is grand 
and impressive. If it be the surroundings alone that gain the Ring-Ouzel 
his musical reputation, then most surely it is the shaded dells and wooded 
copses that bring the Song-Thrush’s music and the Blackbird’s trills into 
such high repute. | 
The call-notes of the Ring-Ouzel are somewhat varied. Sometimes they 
are as low and musical as a Wheatear’s (call-notes to each other, in fact) ; 
sometimes the note is a piping cry, apparently confined to the male bird 
alone, with which he speaks to his mate. But the alarm-note is a sharp 
tac-tac-tac, tac-tac-tac, repeated more frequently and loudly should you 
happen to be in the neighbourhood of the nest. 
The Ring-Ouzel very probably pairs annually, soon after its arrival at 
its breeding-grounds ; and a week or so later the birds are engaged in the 
duties of the season—towards the end of April; yet eggs can be obtained 
throughout the whole of May and even till July, although these may be 
the eggs of birds whose first clutch was destroyed. The nest of the Ring- 
Ouzel is generally placed on the ground, in a hollow in the midst of the 
ling, which effectually conceals it. Occasionally it will be found in a 
bush or stunted tree, but never at any great elevation. In the heather on 
an embankment, where the soil has given way and left an abrupt edge, is a 
favourite place, Wherever there is a steep bank covered with high heath, 
whether it be sloping down to a stream or an old road, you may almost 
safely calculate on finding a nest every few hundred yards or so, always 
placed in the shelter of the highest heather (a foot high or more). Some- 
times holes in the rock itself are chosen, where a few plants of heath have 
