SOME BIRDS OF THE HEIGHTS 85 



earthworms, slugs, grubs, and berries. In England 

 its chief haunts are the spurs of the Cumbrian and 

 Pennine ranges, the Welsh mountains, and the 

 Devonian hills; in Scotland it is not uncommon on 

 the upland moors; in Ireland it frequents the moun- 

 tainous districts of all the four provinces. For the 

 whole of the British area and for the mountainous 

 parts of Central Europe it is a summer visitor. 



When the flocks of Ring Ouzels that arrive on our 

 shores in spring reach the high grounds, they break up 

 into pairs, and these, as in many other cases, take 

 possession of particular " territories," each with a big 

 boulder or the like as centre. Then follows an inter- 

 esting courtship strutting, parading, leaping into the 

 air, fluttering, and chasing, while all the time the cock- 

 bird keeps up a twittering song, now subdued and 

 again excited. After the nesting and brooding and 

 nurture are over, the Ring Ouzels descend from the 

 high grounds at the end of summer and unite again 

 into flocks. These congregate in the low grounds and 

 leave our shores in the late autumn. 



