RING OUZEL. 209 



under a bush. The nest, according to Mr. Hewitson, 

 though diiFerently situated, " is very similar to that of the 

 Blackbird, being outwardly composed of coarse grasses, with 

 a slight layer of clay, and thickly lined with fine dry grass :" 

 the eggs four or five in number, of a light blue, speckled 

 and spotted with reddish brown ; the length one inch two 

 lines, and ten lines in breadth. Mr. Heysham of Carlisle 

 has seen the young birds, in that vicinity, fully fledged on 

 the 15th of June. 



The food selected by this species is similar to that sought 

 for by the Blackbird. It consists of snails, insects, fruit, 

 hawberrics before the birds leave us for the winter, and ivy- 

 berries when they return in the spring. Sir William Jar- 

 dine, in a note to an edition of White's Selborne, says of 

 these birds, " Before migrating to their winter-quarters, and 

 often ere the duties of incubation are over, they leave their 

 mountainous haunts, and descend to the nearest gardens, 

 where they commit severe depredations among the cherries, 

 gooseberries, &c. They also frequent holly-hedges and the 

 mountain-ash, whenever the fruit of these trees is so early as 

 to be of service during their passage. They are known to 

 the country -people under the title of Mountain Blackbird." 

 Buffon says, they feed largely on grapes in France, and are 

 themselves, at that time, delicious eating : he adds also, 

 that, in consequence of their habit of forming their nests on 

 the ground ; they are sometimes called Merles terres. These 

 birds visit gardens in the vicinity of the Forest of Orleans. 

 The voice of the Ring Ouzel possesses, according to Mr. 

 Selby, a few clear and powerful notes : its cry of alarm, 

 when disturbed, very closely resembles that of the Blackbird. 



The Ring Ouzel is not unfrequently seen in flocks of 

 twenty or thirty about the end of October along the line of 

 our southern coast, when preparing for their departure. To 

 the Rev. Robert Holdsworth, of Brixham, I am indebted for 



VOL. I. P 



