THE THRUSH. 
of sticks and coarse grasses, and weeds gathered wet, matted 
together with a small quantity of clay, and lined with a thick 
bed of fine long grass. * * # * The fieldfare is the 
most abundant bird in Norway, and is generally diffused over 
that part which we visited; building, as already noticed, in 
societies, 200 nests or more being frequently seen within a 
very small space.” 
As a home pet, this bird has few commendatory qualities. 
It is rather a large bird, and consequently requires plenty of 
room, and must have a large cage, something like that of the 
missel thrush. The song of the fieldfare simply consists of 
a few not over-melodious twitterings. It must be kept in a 
cool room, as the bird is a native of northern latitudes. 
The Ring- Ouzel. — The ring-ouzle is another large species 
of the genus Turdus. In its habits it closely resembles the 
preceding. Its arrival in this country, however, is directly 
contrary to that of the redwing or fieldfare, the latter birds 
arriving towards the beginning of winter, and the ring-ouzel 
about the approach of spring. It is not a familiar bird in this 
country, being particularly shy of human dwellings, and only 
affecting certain solitary regions, and rarely to be met with 
elsewhere. The ring-ouzel is not important as a songster ; its 
song is very loud and sonorous at times, but generally harsh, 
and any thing but sooth- 
ing. It is fond of build- 
ing its nest in moun- 
tainous districts, where 
bushes, more especially 
juniper, abound. In a 
wild state it is a very 
artful and wary bird, 
and often entertains 
the falconer with the 
adroitness and cunning 
with which it allures 
the hawk. Says a 
well-known naturalist, 
“ It will quietly suffer the bird of prey to approach quite 
closely, screaming a defiance to the enemy, and flitting 
quietly along a stone wall or rocky ground. Suddenly the 
hawk makes its swoop, and the ring-ouzle disappears, having 
whisked into some hole in the stone, squeezed itself into a 
convenient crevice, or slipped over the other side of the wall 
70 
