198 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



ORIGINAL SKETCHES OF BRITISH BIRDS. 

 By H. S. Davenport. 



The Ring- Ousel* (Turdus torquatus). 



My knowledge of this species has not been acquired to any 

 exceeding extent in Leicestershire, though sundry authors in 

 giving a list of the counties in which it has been known to breed 

 do not exclude the shire which is chiefly famous for Fox-hunting. 

 I have certainly met with the Ring-Ousel in the county on the 

 spring and autumn migrations, but of course its true breeding 

 places are the upland wastes and the wild and rocky districts in 

 more mountainous parts of the country. 



Leaving the cultivated lowlands and the civilization of village 

 communities behind me one April morning during the spring of 

 1894, I started on a nesting tramp into the mountains between 

 Festiniog and Dolgelly, my object being to spend an hour or so 

 with the Ring- Ousel, and to get as far as Blaenlliw, a farm about 

 five miles distant from the Llanuwchllyn end of Bala lake, 

 tenanted by the kindest and most hospitable of people, and, 

 what was infinitely more to my purpose, situated right in the 

 heart of the mountains of North Wales — " right away from every- 

 where," as it was succinctly described to me. It was a charming 

 morning, and for the first mile my course lay by the side of the 

 river Lliw, where I had occasional visions of Common Sand- 

 pipers flitting to and fro, while here and there a Grey Wagtail, or 

 a Pied Flycatcher, or a Dipper caught my eye. After passing 

 the gold-mine, Cam Dochan by name, I began to rise the high 

 ground, and a walk of another mile or so brought me nearer to 

 the haunts of the Ring-Ousel, whose home in the summer is 

 essentially a wild and romantic one. From the summit of the 

 rock-strewn hill between Cam Dochan and Arenig a magnificent 

 view of some of the surrounding country was unfolded to my 

 gaze, while the Blackbird's mellow notes, which I had listened 

 * " Ousel." This spelling is by request of Mr. Davenport. — Ed. 



