ORDER PASSERES. 535 



These birds have this pecuharity, that they are as fat in 

 Spring as in Autumn, while the reverse is altogether the case 

 with the other blackbirds and thrushes, and indeed with all 

 other small birds, which are very fat in Autumn, and quite 

 lean in Spring. 



Less distrustful than the common blackbirds, the Ouzels 

 suffer themselves to be approached without difficulty. It is 

 said, however, that they are not very easily caught in snares. 

 Still it would appear that they might be taken without much 

 trouble in the spider-nets that we have described ; as whenever 

 they are pursued they stick constantly to the hedges, preferring 

 those which are in a right line, and quitting one only, cast 

 themselves into the succeeding. 



This species is common in all the high mountains of England 

 and Scotland, of Sweden, Auvergne, Savoy, Switzerland, and 

 Greece. It also inhabits the mountain chain of the Vosges, 

 where it nestles on the fir-trees. It also places its nest at times, 

 at a small distance from the ground, either on a rock covered 

 with bushes and large briars, or at the foot of a very thick 

 bush ; branches, roots of heath, and moss heaped together 

 without order form the basis of the nest, the outside of which 

 is furnished with thick weeds, and the inside with clay mixed 

 with filaments of roots and dried leaves : fine and soft plants 

 form the bed, on which the female lays four eggs, of the same 

 size and colour with those of the common blackbird, but very 

 remarkable for the large reddish spots with which they are 

 marked. 



Lothinger, who has had occasion to study these birds in 

 Lorraine, assures us, that they nestle very early in the season, 

 and construct and place their nest pretty nearly like the song- 

 thrush ; that the young are perfectly capable of providing for 

 themselves by the end of June ; that the period of their departure 

 is not fixed ; but that they generally commence their migration 

 towards the end of July, and that it continues during the whole 

 month of August, for which time not one of these birds is ever 



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