entirely of grass and bents, as is the case with most of the Thrushes, but with little or no mud. The young, four in number, being well grown, scramble out of the nest, calling out at the same time, and bringing their parents round us again, more vociferous than ever. We have, however, no evil intentions, and having satisfied our curiosity we continue our walk. Suddenly a bird rises from behind a stone at our feet, flies a few yards, and disappears round another boulder, this action is repeated several times, till finally, becoming really alarmed, he flies rapidly away over the spur of the hill. His plumage is uniformly dark, just a little lighter on the breast, and we recognise (if we did not already know it) a young bird strongly on the wing; a few yards farther on we see a hen bird, possibly his mother; she leaves her nest with four eggs, which much resemble those of a Blackbird. The nest was placed on the ground, under the shelter of a bramble. On all the moorlands and hills of the British Isles this Ring Ouzel may be found during the summer, nesting either as already described, or in holes of old walls, barns, or in fact wherever a spot can be found well concealed and sheltered from the wind. Towards the end of September he leaves his summer home and is then generally distributed throughout the country, although often overlooked owing to his resemblance to a Blackbird when seen from a short distance. Watch him, however, till he settles, for when alarmed he invariably perches on the top of the hedge before dropping down the other side, while the Blackbird, with his characteristic motion of the tail, enters the hedge at once low down on the near side. The Ring Ouzel is not at home in the cultivated lowlands, and by the end of October they have all left the country. [Illustration: RING OUZEL _Turdus torquatus_ Adult male (left). Adult female (above). Young (right)] In Cornwall and Devon they reappear again at the end of February, and working their way northwards through Wales, commence to nest early in April, as soon as spring has made itself felt on the hills. A few may spend the winter in our most south-western counties, and it is probable that our home-bred birds travel entirely by a western route, and that the birds met with in the east and southeast of the country are all foreign bred, for till the end of April birds are found still pursuing their northward journey to lands beyond ours. The general colour of the upper parts is brownish black, with lighter margins to the wing coverts. Under parts brownish black with broad white crescentic gorget. The female is lighter, and has a narrow gorget. In autumn both sexes have the feathers margined with grey. Length 10 in.; wing 5·5 in. THE ROCK THRUSH Monticola saxatilis (Linnæus)