BIRDS. IO7 



the large size of the bird as compared with the Mistle 

 Thrush. 



BLACKBIRD B. This beautiful songster is very common. 



T. mevula. Pied varieties occur, and a perfectly 



black specimen (with black legs and 

 beak) was obtained in 1897, at Westbury, by Mr. E. R. L. 

 Burton. Mr. Benson remembers one with a white head and 

 neck that used to frequent the Churchyard, at Pulverbatch, 

 about 1867-8. The female is brown instead of black, 

 whilst the young show their affinity to the Thrushes by 

 having the breast spotted in exactly the same way. 

 Rev. J. B. Meredith writes: "It is not uncommon to 

 notice on the throat of the hen bird a ring of lighter 

 colour suggestive of the cousinship of the Ring Ouzel*" 



Ring Ouzel B. Resembles a Blackbird, with a crescent 



T. torquatus. shaped, white patch on the breast. It 



Apl. i. Oct. ii. occurs every Summer, chiefly in the 



hilly parts of the County, and has been 



seen occasionally in Winter. It breeds regularly on the 



Longmynd and hills on the Welsh border ; the nest has 



also been found at Myddle. The nest and eggs resemble 



those of the Blackbird, but are always placed on or near 



the ground. 



Wheatear B. This pretty bird visits us in numbers on 



Saxicola ananthe. its Spring and Autumn migrations. 



Mar. iv. Oct. i. On arrival, the birds are so fat that if 



one is shot its feathers quickly become 



saturated with oil. Only a portion of these spend the 



Summer with us. They prefer low hills, and nest there 



in holes in the ground, frequently selecting a rabbit 



burrow. 



