THE RING-OUZEL IN DERBYSHIRE. 1 



meet with them much later. Whitlock (' Birds of "Derbyshire,' 

 p. 31) records the finding of a nest on Aug. 2nd, 1885. 



Materials of the Nest. — According to my experience, the typical 

 Ring-Ouzel's nest has its foundation and outer walls constructed 

 of bracken -stalks, with a stem or two of heather sometimes inter- 

 woven. In all the nests which I have examined there has been a 

 layer of mud, and without exception they have been lined with 

 fine bents. At times, however, the outer structure varies. A 

 nest which I found in 1894 on the moors had this part composed 

 of grass, moss, bracken, a leaf, a heather-stalk, and a rootlet. 

 Another, which was placed in a crevice of rock in one of our dales, 

 had a sort of loose foundation (probably intended to tilt it up on 

 the outer side) of grass and moss. Upon this was an irregular 

 cup of mud and moss, encircled round the top with a wreath of 

 dry grass and dead stalks of some herbaceous plant (probably one 

 of the Umbelliferce). The lining, which was a quite separate 

 structure, was of fine bents, with here and there a piece of leaf or 

 of stonecrop (Sedum acre). The first spring which I spent within 

 reach of the Peak district was that of 1887. It was not till then 

 that I searched for Ring-Ouzels' nests; but during that season I 

 found eighteen. Of these the seventh, containing eggs, quite 

 deceived me at first. The outside was entirely made of moss, and 

 I mistook it for a Blackbird's nest. There were five eggs in it, 

 and I took two of them, as they were very beautifully marked. A 

 day or two later I showed these to a friend, who at once said that 

 he was convinced that they were Ring-Ouzel's eggs. Accordingly 

 I revisited the nest on three occasions, and eventually had the 

 satisfaction not only of seeing the old birds near it, but also of 

 identifying the three young birds as Ring- Ouzels; for there is no 

 difficulty in distinguishing a Ring-Ouzel from a Blackbird during 

 their nestling plumage. 



This shows conclusively that the nests of these two species 

 are occasionally very similar ; but I cannot agree with Seebohm 

 when he says that " it would be almost impossible to discriminate 

 between them were we not aware that the Blackbird does not haunt 

 the wide open moor " (' British Birds,' vol. i. p. 247 ; the same 

 words are used in his 'Eggs of British Birds,' p. 182). The 

 range of the Blackbird overlaps that of the Ring- Ouzel. Only 

 last year (1898) I saw a Ring- Ouzel fly from a likely place, and, 



