THE RING-OUZEL 



MERULA TORQUATA 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A regular summer visitor 

 to the moors and uplands ; lowlands on migration. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : London and the home counties generally 

 scarcely come within the limits of the Ring-Ouzel's migra- 

 tion route to the northern districts of Great Britain, 

 where the bird spends the summer. Nevertheless it 

 has been known even to breed in Kent ; whilst from 

 time to time stragglers out of their normal course appear 

 within the Metropolitan area. In Surrey the bird is by 

 no means a very rare one on passage, especially on the 

 higher grounds. In Middlesex it similarly occurs, and 

 has been recorded from Kingsbury, Kilburn, Hampstead, 

 Hendon and Edgware. It is seen occasionally in Essex, 

 and quite recently an example was shot on the sewage 

 farm at Walthamstow. Many years ago (in the autumn 

 of 1889) I came across a small party of Ring-Ouzels, 

 apparently a brood of the year, and their parents, close 

 to Epsom. They were feeding on berries of the moun- 

 tain ash, on some open ground, and were comparatively 

 tame. This was the first time I had seen the Ring-Ouzel 

 away from its summer haunts on the moorlands, although 

 I have many times met with it in gardens and orchards in 

 the northern shires when passing south from its breeding 

 places in autumn. 



It is only a very fleeting glimpse that the Londoner 

 can ever hope to get of the Ring-Ouzel. This is when the 

 bird is migrating to or from its summer home on the wild 

 uplands and moors of the north. It travels in flocks of 

 varying size, sometimes composed of a hundred or more 

 individuals. It is a somewhat shy, yet on occasion bold 

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