morning, or picking the small slugs from the blades of grass. He also 

 searches the droppings of sheep and cattle for the small beetles and insects 

 which abound there. The snail -shells found among the coarse vegeta- 

 tion are carried by the Ring-Ouzel to some convenient stone, where they 

 are broken to pieces and the contents devoured. In the autumn wild fruits 

 and berries are his favourite food, and he sometimes pays the penalty for 

 theft in the gardens near his haunts, being caught in the nets over the 

 currants and strawberries. Ivy-berries, elder-berries, wild cherries, brambles, 

 and especially the fruit of the mountain ash, are eagerly devoured. Soon after 

 their arrival, and before they have paired, Ring-Ouzels may often be seen 

 on the moors in large flocks like Fieldfares ; at this time they are very wild 

 and wary. 



In the end of April and the beginning of May nest-building commences. 

 The nest is generally placed on the ground under some tuft of heather or 

 some rocky slope, but it is sometimes found low down in a bush. A favourite 

 situation is on some rock face where the tufts of heather grow out of the 

 fissures in the rock and conceal the nest. It is rather a well-made nest ; 

 the outside is made of grass and a few pieces of heather or dead leaves ; this 

 is then cemented over inside with a layer of clay or mud, being finally thickly 

 lined with a layer of fine dry grass. In appearance the nest cannot be 

 distinguished from that of the Blackbird. 



The number of eggs laid is usually four or five ; they are very often 

 indistinguishable from those of the Blackbird, but are, as a rule, more boldly 

 marked. They are bluish green in ground-colour, blotched with reddish brown. 

 There are two or three varieties one, rather long in shape, pale in 

 ground-colour, with very small markings all over the shell ; a second is very 

 round, dark greenish in ground-colour, with bold blotches sparingly distributed 

 over the surface ; yet another is brownish in ground-colour, streaked with light 

 brown markings and a few purple spots, the markings forming a zone round 

 one end of the egg. They vary in length from 1-30 to no inch, and in breadth 

 from - 9 to 79 inch. 



The old birds defend their young most bravely, and even when the nest 

 is half finished they guard the vicinity with great jealousy. 



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