MEHUMD E. 
tomed to perch, d'hc bcah is stout, and the ridge of the 
upper inaudible advances a little upon the forehead ; the 
nostril is large and oval, the base of the beak beset with 
short but stiff bristles, and the space between the nostril and 
the eye is covered with closely set hair-like featliering. The 
beak is notched near the tip, and the upper line of it very 
gently curved from the base ; the tail is four inches in 
length, and is covered nearly half way down by the folded 
wings. 
In the adult male the crescent-shaped gorget on the breast 
is pure white, the rest of the plumage dull black, which is 
darkest on the head, neck, and breast, and palest on the 
cjuill-feathers, particularly towards the tips of the primaries. 
With the exception of the feathers between the bill and eye, 
and the front of the cheeks, every individual feather is edged 
with a paler colour. Those of the top of the head, neck, and 
back are narrowly edged with cinereous ash ; the shoulders 
and feathers of the under parts, as well as those of the wings, 
are edged rather broader with pale ash-grey. The outer 
webs of the greater wing-coverts and tertials are also tinged 
with ash in addition to their edging. The tail feathers are 
uniform sooty black, with the exception of the outer, which 
is narrowly edged with pale ash ; the under colour of the 
tail is dark grey, the wings are paler underneath, and the 
under coverts of the same pale grey mixed with brownish- 
ash. The beak is horn-coloured, the inside of the mouth 
and corners of the gape yellow. Both mandibles are yellow 
at the base in the spring. The iris is dark brown ; the eyelid 
yellow; the legs and feet are dusky with yellowish soles. 
The adult bird is more uniformly black in spring, in con¬ 
sequence of the natural wearing off of the edges of the 
feathers. 
The younger the Ring Ousel the more broadly are the 
feathers edged, and the less clear and distinct is the gorget 
on the breast. 
