THE RING-OUZEL AS A SONGSTER 137 



me in a fury, to flutter about within two or three 

 yards of me, screaming and scolding their loudest ; 

 and very soon their noise brought a pair of ring- 

 ouzels on the scene to help them. Here was a fine 

 opportunity of comparing our two British blackbirds 

 — two pairs, male and female, all animated by the 

 same passion, and acting together like birds of the 

 same species, dashing close to my face, as I sat on a 

 stone holding the richly-coloured young bird in my 

 hand, showing it to them. 



The ring-ouzel always looks like a lesser blackbird, 

 even when they are thus seen side by side, although it 

 is about the same size ; but he is not so black as his 

 cousin, for black, being the most conspicuous colour 

 in nature, exaggerates the size of an object, especially a 

 living moving one, to the eye. In some lights the 

 ring-ouzel has a rusty appearance owing to the pale 

 tips of the feathers. The female is less black than the 

 male and varies in colour according to the light, some- 

 time appearing olive-black or brown, and in some 

 lights a greenish-bronze colour. 



On my liberating the young bird the four demon- 

 strators flew off. On the following day I found the 

 ring-ouzel's nest in a tuft of bilberry growing on a 

 ledge of rock at the glen side. It contained four eggs. 

 The male continued to sing at intervals during the day 

 when the female was sitting, but his favourite time was 

 late in the evening, when perched on a stone about a 

 hundred yards from his mate he would repeat his song 

 about twice every minute until it was dark. He was 



