RING OUSEL. 
31 
In its form and general appearance, in its solitary and 
sliy habits, and in its food, the Ring Ousel much resembles its 
congener, the blackbird: its song also is said to bear great 
resemblance to that of the blackbird, being melodious and 
highly agreeable, although its voice does not possess so much 
power. It has also the same manners and actions, and its 
call-note resembles the word tuk. 
When arrived, about May, at its summer rocky destina¬ 
tion, this species commences nidification. The manner of 
its nest, the materials of which it is composed, and the size, 
number, and appearance of the eggs, also strikingly resemble 
those of the blackbird, but the site chosen is different; 
this is always exposed and unprotected, and the nest is placed 
upon a bank or among the rocks, unsheltered either by bush 
or herbage. 
In adult plumage the Ring Ousel is a bird of handsome 
and striking appearance, and from its beauty deserves a 
better reception than it frequently meets with, when de¬ 
scending from its mountain retreat it encounters the merci¬ 
less eye of the sportsman, who is at that season ready armed 
for destruction, and whose attention is arrested by the singu¬ 
lar appearance of its pure white crescent. 
In length this species measures about twelve inches, and 
eighteen in expanse. The wdng is short in proportion to 
the size of the bird, measuring less than five and a half inches 
from the carpus to the tip : the first quill-feather is remarka¬ 
bly short, not measuring more than half an inch, the second 
a little exceeds the fifth, and the third is the longest in the 
Aving: the first three or four quills are much pointed at 
the extremity. The tarsus measures an inch and a half 
nearly, the middle toe and claAV an inch and a quarter; the 
outer toe is closely united to the middle one, and the claws 
of all are laterally compressed and remarkably blunt, from 
the friction, probably, of the rocks on Avhich they are accus- 
