PERCHING BIRDS. 
476 
In Northern Europe the cock ring-ouzel arrives upon its ground in April and May. 
and the females soon after join their partners. Generally nesting in some wild 
solitude, building in the rocks that overhang a mountain burn, especially where the 
ground is rough and well covered with heather, the ring-ouzel is shy and wary, and 
rarely permits a very close approach to the nest. In Switzerland, however, a fir- 
tree is the more common site for the nest, which is always built of dry grass and 
heather, and lined with fine stems. The eggs are blue, finely spotted with reddish 
brown. The young occasionally fly as early as the beginning of June. All 
through the early summer months the ring-ouzels live among the sheep on the 
hillside; but when the fruits ripen in autumn, the fell-throstles or mountain- 
blackbirds, as these birds are often called, approach the neighbourhood of orchards 
and gardens, and proceed to levy blackmail upon the crops. They are especially 
partial to cherries, though when the berries of the mountain-ash ripen, the ring- 
ouzels gorge themselves to repletion upon their favourite fruit, so that they become 
fat and in high condition before they leave the shores of Europe to seek a more 
genial climate in Northern Africa. Flying strongly and direct, the ring-ouzel 
utters a song which is both sweet and powerful, and audible at a great distance, 
although inferior to that of the blackbird. The harsh, chuckling notes which 
this bird utters when its haunts are invaded cannot well be confused with those of 
any other bird. Mr. Howard Saunders says that the ring-ouzels which breed in 
the Swiss forests frequent the vineyards by the lakes in the autumn time, levying 
toll upon the grapes, which the owners guard so jealously. During migration, the 
ring-ouzel is sometimes found with blackbirds and thrushes at lighthouses. The 
Rock-Thrushes. 
adult male, in breeding-plumage, has the upper surface blackish brown; the wings 
being brown with whitish edgings; most of the feathers of the under surface have 
pale grey margins; and a broad white gorget extends across the breast, and is 
always conspicuous. 
The representatives of the small genus Monticola have a stout, 
straight bill, arched towards its extremity; and while the wings are 
moderate in length, the tail is short and even. The legs are stout, strong, and well 
adapted to progression over irregular surfaces. The rock-thrushes are peculiar to 
the Old World, three species inhabiting South Africa, and a fourth Abyssinia, 
while two breed in the Himalaya, one of which extends eastward into Western 
China. The two best-known species, the blue thrush and the rock-thrush of 
Western Europe, range from Northern China to Spain and Italy. 
Common The common rock-thrush ( M. saxatilis) is a summer visitant to 
Rock-Thrush, the more barren portions of the principal mountain ranges of Central 
Europe and Siberia, but does not reach the far north in its annual wanderings. 
Like its cousin the blue rock-rush, it is partial to rocky gorges among the' hills 
and regions far removed from any human habitation, save for the chance presence 
of a shepherd’s hut or farmstead in some hollow among the mountains. It is a 
shy and wary species, constantly vibrating its tail like a redstart, and migrating 
to its breeding-ground in flocks, where it commences to nest in May. The 
nest is generally built in a precipitous position among crags of rock, often close 
to some mountain waterfall; although the rock-thrush sometimes nests in holes 
in the stone walls that are built to protect the Rhenish vineyards. The nest is 
