330 THE THRUSH FAMILY 



2. Distribution. This is a mountain haunting species, of which three races 

 are found in Europe. The northern race, T. torquatus torquatus, inhabits the hilly 

 districts of the British Isles, and also visits Scandinavia in the breeding season, 

 up to the North Cape, while T. torquatus alpestris is found in the mountains of 

 Middle and South Europe, from Spain to the Balkans, and T. t. orientalis in the 

 Caucasus, North Persia, and the mountains of S. Transcaspia. In England, the 

 chief haunts of this bird in summer are the spurs of the Cumbrian and Pennine 

 ranges, the Welsh mountains, and the Devonian hills ; in Scotland it is fairly 

 general on the moorlands, is found in the Orkneys, and in limited numbers on the 

 Irish hills of all four provinces. Several isolated instances of nesting in the lowland 

 counties of England have been reported, but in many cases these are probably 

 due to confusion with partial albinos of the blackbird. [F. c. B. J.] 



3. Migration. Exceptional occurrences of the ring-ouzel in the British 

 Isles during the winter months are not infrequent, but for the most part it is a 

 summer visitor to the districts in which it breeds, and a bird of passage to 

 and from these districts in many southern parts of the country. A certain 

 number of individuals are birds of passage on their way to and from Scandinavia 

 from Southern Europe. Further details are wanting as regards Scotland and 

 Ireland, but some important facts have been discovered in England and Wales by 

 the researches of the special committee of the British Ornithologists' Club. Many 

 points are still doubtful, but the following may be regarded as fairly well estab- 

 lished : that the summer visitant ring-ouzels arrive from the Continent late in 

 March and early in April on the western half of our south coast, quickly spreading 

 northwards and north-eastwards over England and Wales, and probably into 

 Scotland. In the latter half of April an immigration takes place on the eastern 

 half of the same coast. These are the birds of passage, already alluded to, on 

 their way to Scandinavia. They cross the south-east of England where the 

 species is otherwise practically unknown in a north-easterly direction, soon 

 quitting our shores and crossing the North Sea. The autumn movements, which 

 last till late October, have not yet been studied in such detail. This species is 

 frequently recorded as migrating singly or in pairs, but it also travels in parties. 

 (See further B. 0. C. Migration Reports, i. pp. 17-19 ; ii. pp. 29-31 ; iii. pp. 37-39 ; 

 and iv. pp. 41-44, and 183 ; cf. also Ticehurst, B. of Kent, 1909, pp. 13-14 ; and 

 Nelson, B. of Yorks., 1907, pp. 18-20.) [A. L. T.] 



4. Nest and Eggs. In the British Isles the nest is generally found on 

 the ground, on a bank-side, or among rocks, often among heather, rarely in low 



