26 BRITISH BIRDS WITH THEIR NESTS AND EGGS. 



or among heather upon steep declivities, very rarely in a low bush or tree. 



The eggs number from four to five, usually four, and are extremely similar 

 to those of the Blackbird and Fieldfare ; indeed, unless the collector takes them 

 himself, I do not for a moment believe that he could be assured of their origin. 

 I obtained eggs from two nests in Kent, in both cases 'flushing the bird from 

 them ; she flew off with harsh cries "chack-chack-chack"* after the manner of a 

 Blackbird, but did not go far away ; probably had the nest contained young she 

 would have flown round my head with loud cries after the manner of the Missel 

 Thrush ; but I have rarely found birds so devoted to their eggs as to their young, 

 unless they have actually commenced incubation. I found my second nest 

 amongst a clump of heather growing under a furze bush, on the edge of a wild 

 plantation bounding part of a large park at Tunstall, near Sittingbourne, on May 

 1 7th, 1879: the nest unfortunately only contained one egg. My first nest was 

 found on the margin of an unreclaimed bit of heathery moorland in the Stock- 

 bury Valley under a straggling tuft of ling overhanging the edge of a steep 

 embankment at the side of a little frequented road, on May 24th, 1875 : this 

 nest contained two eggs. In both cases I omitted to take the nest, and 

 consequently this is a desideratum to my collection ; probably the birds continued 

 to utilize them. 



The habits of the Ring-Ouzel are very similar to those of the Blackbird ; 

 its flight is very similar and its trick of throwing up the tail as it alights, its 

 method of searching for food, characterized by a shy, alert, almost nervous 

 manner, and its harsh cry uttered when the safety of its nest is threatened and at 

 roosting time. Even its song bears some similarity to that of. its ebony relative, 

 though harsher in character and in some respects more nearly approaching that 

 of the Song Thrush ; its habit of interrupting and criticizing its own performance 

 is also eminently characteristic of the Blackbird : its call-note is a thin piercing 

 whistle, like that of our other Thrushes. The harsh gurrrh, characteristic of the 

 Missel and Song Thrushes, can hardly be the true call note, since they certainly 

 call to one another in the still more unpleasant whistled note above mentioned. 



The food of the Ring- Ouzel consists of worms, slugs, snails, insects and 

 their grubs, many kinds of berries, small fruits such as currants, gooseberries, 

 blackberries, cherries, grapes and also plums. 



Seebohm says : "A true bird of the wilderness, it prefers the deepest 

 solitudes that our land affords. Truly, indeed, the Ring-Ouzel's home is a wild 



*This sound is usually rendered by the word tal:: but there is a thickness about the initial letter better 

 represented \yych: the almost metallic flint splitting sound which I render chink, in the account of the Black- 

 bird, has been incorrectly written as "pink" : a Blackbird is as likely to say "purple" as "pink." 



