Ring Ouzels ^ Water Ouzels 117 



reared from the nest he is steady, handsome, and cheery 

 in song. 



A large wicker cage is as good as any, and he loves 

 a daily bath. 



He is a hearty feeder, and likes grated carrot, pre- 

 viously boiled, added to his insectivorous mixture. 

 Potato, too, and scraps of raw beef are additional 

 luxuries — and mealworms, of course. 



The hen bird is a " washed " edition of her mate 

 in colouring : her white collar not being nearly so 

 pure in tint ; but the whole effect is soft and pretty. 



She is not unlike a hen blackbird with a grey- 

 white chemisette, but on closer inspection her breast 

 feathers are seen to have pale lacings. 



A pair of ring ouzels that I had in an out-door 

 aviary commenced nest-building one spring ; but their 

 efforts did not amount to very much, although the hen 

 bird was repeatedly carrying about beaksful of grass 

 and leaves. The white gorget of the male is very 

 much whiter in the summer than in the winter, and 

 his bill, which is darkish after the breeding season is 

 over, again grows bright saffron yellow on its return. 

 There is no actual spring moult, as in the case of the 

 pied rock thrush [Petrocmc/a Saxatilis), but the edges 

 of the feathers seem to wear away, leaving the whole 

 colouring purer and brighter, unless it be that there is 

 a flow of pigment to deepen or heighten certain tints. 



The same change of plumage occurs with the blue 

 thrush, in whose case such a flow of colouring matter — '■ 

 at least in the head feathers — would seem to take place ; 

 for the whole head changes from smalt blue to quite a 



