AND NEIGHBOURHOOD. 101 



are five or six, and very closely resemble some 

 varieties of the Blackbird. Captain J. Borlase 

 Tibbits informed me that a pair of Ring-Ouzels were 

 constantly seen about his garden at llothwell Grange 

 in May and June 1891, but that no nest could be 

 discovered there. 



The Eing-Ouzel has a pleasant clear whistling 

 song. An old male which I kept for many years 

 became very tame, and sang so vigorously in the 

 spring that I found it absolutely necessary to banish 

 him from my room ; this bird became totally blind 

 after some years in captivity, but lived on in good 

 feather and in good health for at least two years after 

 its sight was completely gone, and sang in the spring- 

 time as gaily as ever. The alarm-note of the King- 

 Ouzel, to which I have before alluded, is a harsh 

 chatter, something between that of the Blackbird and 

 the Fieldfare, but very distinct from either. In cap- 

 tivity I find that these birds will thrive, when wild 

 berries are not obtainable, upon currants, raisins, 

 scraped carrots, hard-boiled egg, and chopped beef, 

 they will also greedily devour all sorts of beetles, 

 earthworms, flies, and spiders. 



35. HEDGE-SPARROW. 



Accentor modidaris. 



This little bird is so common, and so familiar in its 

 habits, that every one is well acquainted with it ; and 

 did it only possess the brilliant colour of the Red- 

 breast it would, no doubt, be as great a favourite 

 amongst us as that bird, and deservedly so, for though 

 perhaps not quite so fearless of man, it seems especially 

 to affect the neighbourhood of human habitations 



