THE RING-OUZEL IN DERBYSHIRE. 3 



perennis), and here and there an early primrose. As he wanders 

 further up the dale the woods give place to low thorn-bushes. After 

 a while even these cease, and he soon comes to a cave out of which 

 the clear waters of the river flow. It is here that the river has its 

 origin. Here in the cave he finds a Dipper's (Cinclus aquaticus) 

 nest already containing eggs. Further up the dale no mur- 

 muring stream accompanies our traveller. Even here it is lonely 

 enough. All is still. Though perhaps, if he is lucky, he may 

 hear the cheery song of the Dipper, or the monotonous warble of 

 a solitary Wheatear. Only one loud sound greets his ear — the 

 chatter of the busy Jackdaws as they fly to and from the cracks 

 in the rocks, or talk business and gossip on the ledges. But 



what is that ? 



" A whistle strikes his startled ear 1 

 A pipe of shrillest, wildest tone." :;: 



It is the Ring-Ouzel high up on the rocks, his song echoing from 

 crag to crag. 



Having given this brief picture of the haunts of the bird, we 

 must now consider his habits more or less in detail. 



Time of Arrival. — In the 'Birds of Northamptonshire' (vol. i. 

 p. 99), Lord Lilford says: — "I have observed the bird in our 

 immediate neighbourhood on its return migration about the end 

 of April." Rev. H. A. Macpherson (' Fauna of Lakeland,' p. 89) 

 writes:— "The last days of March witness the return of the 

 Ring-Ouzels to their upland home." The earliest date on which 

 I have heard or seen these birds in the Peak district was April 

 4th ; but there are no Ring- Ouzels within three miles of my 

 house, so that I may easily miss them on their first arrival. 

 Mr. Peat recorded their advent on March 26th, 1894. So far as 

 he remembers that is the earliest date he has known. The spring 

 of 1894 was apparently an " early " one, for Mr. Peat found a 

 Lapwing's egg on March 29th, a week before the usual date. But 

 in that same year the Ring-Ouzels had not arrived in Lathkil 

 Dale by March 30th. As a rule only a few birds appear at first, 

 but are soon reinforced by a second batch. 



General Habits, Food, Range, c&c. — Mr. Peat informs me that 

 when first the birds arrive the margins of the feathers are paler 

 than they are a little later in the season, giving the bird a more 



* Colquhoun's ' Moor and the Loch,' vol. ii. p. 119. 



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