RING OUZEL. 221 



at the base of a stone, a stump, or a bush, which serves as a 

 shelter. Dr. Fleming says that in Scotland it makes its 

 nest among heath ; and the nests seen by Mr. Rennie in 

 Argyleshire were placed on the sides of heathy banks, not 

 under a bush. The nest, according to Mr. Hewitson, 

 though differently situated, " is very similar to that of the 

 Blackbird, being outwardly composed of coarse grasses, 

 with a slight layer of clay, and thickly lined with fine dry 

 grass :"* the eggs four or five in number, of a light blue, 

 speckled and spotted with reddish brown ; the length one 

 inch two lines, and ten lines in breadth. Mr. Heysham of 

 Carlisle has seen the young birds, in that vicinity, fully 

 fledged on the 15th of June. 



The food selected by this species is similar to that sought 

 for by the Blackbird. It consists of snails, insects, fruit, 

 hawberries before the birds leave us for the winter, and 

 ivy-berries when they return in the spring. Sir William 

 Jardine, in a note to an edition of White's Selborne, says 

 of these birds, " Before migrating to their winter-quarters, 

 and often ere the duties of incubation are over, they leave 

 their mountainous haunts, and descend to the nearest gar- 

 dens, where they commit severe depredations among the 

 cherries, gooseberries, &c. They also frequent holly-hedges 

 and the mountain-ash, whenever the fruit of these trees is 

 so early as to be of service during their passage. They 

 are known to the country-people under the title of Moun- 

 tain Blackbird." Buffon says, they feed largely on grapes 

 in France, and are themselves, at that time, delicious eat- 

 ing : he adds also, that, in consequence of their habit of 

 forming their nests on the ground, they are sometimes 

 called Merles terres. These birds visit gardens in the 

 vicinity of the Forest of Orleans. The voice of the Ring 

 Ouzel possesses, according to Mr. Selby, a few clear and 



