1 The Ring Ouzel builds a nest somewhat similar to that of the blackbird." 



THE RING OUZEL 



T 



HIS handsome migrant, in 

 which Gilbert White took 

 so much interest, arrives 

 upon our shores in April, 

 and straightway repairs 

 to its favourite breeding 

 haunts in the most wild and 

 solitary parts of the West 

 and North of England, Wales, Scotland, 

 and Ireland. In other parts of the 

 country it is, as a rule, only seen during 

 its spring and autumn migrations. I 

 have never observed it in either the 

 Shetlands or the Outer Hebrides. 



Curiously enough, although it may 

 frequently be seen on the Surrey hills 

 close to London whilst on its journey 

 north in the spring, I have never once 

 met with it in those parts upon its 

 return in a southerly direction. 



The Ring Ouzel builds a nest somewhat 

 similar to that of the blackbird. It is 

 generally placed under a ledge or in a 

 sheltered crevice in the face of a little 



broken bit of cliff, or amongst heather 

 growing on a steep bank. I have several 

 times found it in a hole formed by a 

 stone having fallen out of an old dry 

 wall, twice in rushes, once in a holly 

 bush, and once in furze. 



The eggs, numbering four or five, bear 

 a considerable resemblance to those of 

 the blackbird, but are, as a rule, 

 marked by larger and better defined 

 spots. This is not, however, an in- 

 fallible distinction, for the eggs of 

 both species vary considerably in this 

 respect. 



The song of the Ring Ouzel, like that 

 of the missel thrush, consists of a few 

 plaintive, oft-repeated notes, singularly 

 in harmony with the solitary character 

 of the savage wastes in which the bird 

 lives. It is generally delivered from the 

 top of some prominent boulder of rock, 

 within sound of the melancholy wail 

 of the golden plover, or the piping call 

 of the curlew. 



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