476 



PERCHING BIRDS. 



In Northern Europe the cock ring-ouzel arrives upon its ground in April and May, 

 and the females soon after join their partners. Generally nesting in some wild 

 solitude, building in the rocks that overhang a mountain bum, especially where the 

 ground is rough and well covered with heather, the ring-ouzel is shy and wary, and 

 rarely permits a very close approach to the nest. In Switzerland, however, a fir- 

 tree is the more common site for the nest, which is always built of dry grass and 

 heather, and lined with fine stems. The eggs are blue, finely spotted with reddish 

 brown. The young occasionally fly as early as the beginning of June. All 

 through the early summer months the ring-ouzels live among the sheep on the 

 hillside; but when the fruits ripen in autumn, the fell-throstles or mountain- 

 Mackbirds, as these birds are often called, approach the neighbourhood of orchards 

 a. 1 gardens, and proceed to levy blackmail upon the crops. They are especially 

 pai : alto cherries, though when the berries of the mountain-ash ripen, the ring- 

 ouzels gorge themselves to repletion upon their favourite fruit, so that they become 

 fat and in high condition before they leave the shores of Europe to seek a more 

 genial climate in Northern Africa. Flying strongly and direct, the ring-ouzel 

 utters a song which is both sweet and powerful, and audible at a great distance, 

 although inferior to that of the blackbird. The harsh, chuckling notes which 

 this bird utters when its haunts arc invaded cannot well be confused with those of 

 any other bird. Mr. Howard Saunders says that the ring-ouzels, which breed in 

 the Swiss forests, frequent the vineyards by tin- lakes in the autumn time, levying 

 toll upon the grapes, which the owners guard so jealously. During migration, the 

 ring-ouzel is sometimes found with blackbirds and thrushes at lighthouses. The 

 adult male, in breeding-plumage, has the upper surface blackish brown: the wings 

 being brown with whitish edgings; most of the bathers of the under-surface have 

 pale grey margins; and a broad white gorget extends across the breast, and is 

 always conspicuous. 



The representatives of this small group (Monticola) have a stout, 

 straight bin. arched towards its extremity; and while the wings are 

 moderate in length, the tail is short and even. The legs are stout, strong, and well 

 adapted to progression over irregular surfaces. The rock-thrushes are peculiar to 

 the Old World, three species inhabiting South Africa, and a fourth Abyssinia, 

 while two breed in the Himalaya, one of which extends eastward into Western 

 China. The two best known species, the blue thrush and the rock-thrush of 

 Western Europe, range from Northern China to Spain and Italy. 



Common The rock-thrush (Monticola saxatUis) is a summer visitant to 



Rock-THrush. the more barren portions of the principal mountain ranges of Central 

 Europe and Siberia, but does not reach the far north in its annual wanderings. 

 Like its cousin the blue rock-thrush, it is partial to rocky gorges among the hills 

 and regions far removed from any human habitation, save for the chance presence 

 of a shepherd's hut or farmstead in some hollow among the mountains. It is a 

 shy and wan' species, constantly vibrating its tail like a redstart, and migrating 

 to its breeding-ground in flocks, where it commences to nest in May. The 

 nest is generally built in a precipitous position among crags of rock, often close 

 to some mountain waterfall : although the rock-thrush sometimes nests in holes 

 in the stone walls that are built to protect the Rhenish vineyards. The nest is 





