146 BIRDS OF LOCH AND MOUNTAIN 



ledges of the cliffs. They nest usually in small 

 colonies, but are very local in their haunts, 

 and one may walk for miles on some of the 

 moorlands without seeing a single one of the 

 species. 



The hen bird at times is a very close sitter, 

 at other times she leaves her nest while the in- 

 truder is still far off and in these cases her secret 

 is difficult to find. She is very demonstrative, 

 and shows the greatest anxiety while her nest 

 is in danger, flying uneasily round the intruder 

 and using her alarm note, an oft-repeated 

 "Chack, chack, chack." The period of incubation 

 is a fortnight, and the young birds are hatched 

 out about the middle of May. They are fed 

 most assiduously by both the parent birds, and 

 by the end of another fortnight are able to leave 

 the nest. 



A second brood is rarely reared, but as late 

 as June 22nd I have found a nest containing 

 small young, these in all probability being a second 

 clutch. 



During the first week of last May I discovered 

 a Ring Ousel's nest containing four eggs, well 

 hidden under a thick juniper bush. The bird was 

 sitting hard, and had evidently been brooding for 

 a day or so at least. Ten days later a snowstorm 

 of unparalleled severity for the time of year came 

 on suddenly, and, being driven by a northerly gale, 

 soon formed deep wreaths everywhere. A day or 

 two later I visited the Ring Ousel's nesting site 

 and was sorry to find a snow drift many feet deep 

 covering the nest, which, of course, was completely 

 buried. It was pathetic indeed to see the birds 

 flitting disconsolately round their erstwhile home 



