THE ZOOLOGIST 



No. 70S.— January, 1900. 



THE RING-OUZEL IN DERBYSHIRE. 

 By W. Storks Fox, M.A., F.Z.S. 



In recording my observations on the Ring- Ouzel (Turdus 

 torquatus), I have no expectation of writing anything original. 

 But I think it possible that personal notes on this interesting 

 bird may be acceptable to those ornithologists who are less 

 familiar with it than I am. On certain points I am bound to 

 disagree with well-known writers. Where I have not felt 

 sufficient confidence in my own experience, I have consulted my 

 friend Mr. David Peat, who has lived all his life on the Derby- 

 shire moors, and who now lives in the midst of the best ground 

 for Ring-Ouzels which I know. He is a most careful and 

 accurate observer of birds. And I am glad to find that his 

 experience entirely supports my own. I am inclined to suppose 

 that the birds of one locality sometimes differ slightly in habits 

 from those of another. It is for this reason that I have headed 

 my paper " The Ring-Ouzel in Derbyshire." 



I believe that most ornithologists agree with me in con- 

 sidering this bird a special favourite. There is something so 

 romantic, so wild, so free about it and its surroundings. Mac- 

 gillivray's lines on the Song-Thrush — 



"Far away, far away, far away 

 The haunts of men " — 



seem specially true of the Ring- Ouzel. For we may walk for 



Zool. Mh ser. vol. IV., January, 1900. b 



