RING OUZEL. 22M 
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 L5th 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 sprmg. 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 
