THE NEST OF THE GRET- 

 IVINGED OUZEL 



On several occasions this year (1910) I have 



listened with unalloyed pleasure to the sweet 



blackbird-like song of the grey-winged ouzel 



(Merula boulbouT) at Naini Tal — a station in 



the Himalayas, consisting of over a hundred 



bungalows dotted on the well-wooded hillsides 



that tower 1200 feet above a mountain lake 



that is itself 6000 feet above the level of the 



sea. On the northern slope of one of the 



mountains on the north side of the Naini Tal 



lake, is a deep ravine, through which runs a 



little stream. The sides of the ravine are 



covered with trees — mainly rhododendron, oak, 



and holly. 



On July 1 st I went 1000 feet down this 



ravine to visit the nest of a spotted forktail 



(Heniciirus maculatus) which I had discovered 



a week previously. Having duly inspected 



the blind, naked, newly-hatched forktails, I 

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