346 BRITISH BIRDS. 



sometimes he is sitting on a tuft of heather, or on a gorse bush, or on the 

 branches of some silver birch or mountain-ash, yet, perhaps, most fre- 

 quently of all on the summit of a grey boulder. Monotonous as is the 

 song of the Ring-Ouzel, still its loud tones and the bold bearing of the liiird 

 itself fully harmonize with the wild surroundings. You may often see him 

 perched on some storm-riven tree growing out of the grey rocks, where, 

 with his white breast glistening in the sun, he sits motionless and pours 

 forth his wild notes. His song resembles in part that of the Starling, the 

 Blackbird, and the Song-Thrush. The bird, after several piping notes, 

 utters a few harsh tones, as if in mockery of his own performance, pro- 

 bably a minute passing between each snatch of song. If you. alarm him, 

 his wild notes cease at once, and, with his wild cries echoing in the rocks 

 around, he either drops doAvn into the heath or flies away to a more 

 secluded resting-place. The claims of the Ring-Ouzel to the rank of a 

 first-rate songster may be disputed, and his musical powers be unfavour- 

 ably compared with those of the Song-Thrush or the Blackbird; still there 

 is a wild freedom in them which gives them a pecu.liar charm, and the 

 wild nature of the surrounding landscape is also much enhanced in beauty 

 bj' a song as clear and melodious in tone as the scenery around is grand 

 and impressive. If it be the surroundings alone that gain the Ring-Ouzel 

 his musical reputation, then most surely it is the shaded dells and wooded 

 copses that bring the Song-Thrush's music and the Blackbird's trills into 

 such high repute. 



The call-notes of the Ring-Ouzel are somewhat varied. Sometimes they 

 are as low and musical as a Wheatear's (call-notes to each other, in fact) ; 

 sometimes the note is a piping cry, apparently confined to the male bird 

 alone, with which he speaks to his mate. But the alarm-note is a sharp 

 tac-tac-tac, tac-tac-tac, repeated more frequently and loudly should you 

 happen to be in the neighbourhood of the nest. 



The Ring-Ouzel very probably pairs annually, soon after its arrival at 

 its breeding-grounds ; and a week or so later the birds are engaged in the 

 duties of the season — towards the end of April ; yet eggs can be obtained 

 throughout the whole of JMay and even till July, although these may be 

 the eggs of birds whose first clutch was destroj'ed. The nest of the Ring- 

 Ouzel is generally placed on the ground, in a hollow in the midst of the 

 ling, which efleetually conceals it. Occasionally it will be found in a 

 bush or stunted tree, but never at any great elevation. In the heather on 

 an embankment, where the soil has given way and left an abrupt edge, is a 

 favourite place. Wherever there is a steep bank covered with high heath, 

 whether it be sloping down to a stream or an old road, you may almost 

 safely calculate on finding a ne^ every few hundred yards or so, always 

 placed in the shelter of the highest heather (a foot high or more). Some- 

 times holes in the rock itself are chosen, where a few plants of heath have 



