M E K H X A T O K Q IX A T A .
J. Quali bKC.RuhUr, del eùWv.
Walter, bnp
MERULA TORQUATA.
1 Ringp-Ousel.
Turins torquatus, Linn. Faun. Suec., p. 80.
Merula torqmta, Boie, Isis, 1822, p. 552. ^
Sylvia torquata, Savi, Ora. Tose., tom?Wf>. ÖQ6.
Copsickus torquatus, Kaup, Natiirl. Systl fi. 157.
Mmila montana, collari, et alpestri!, Brchrà, frig. Deutsch!., pp. 376, 376, 377, tal,. 21. fi»
In the British Island* the Ring-Ouselmust be regurded us a migratory bird , for it comes and
regularly as the Fieldfare and the Redw in g ,-b u t, „„like those birds, I sa summer and no, uwluter J o 2 o r
its¡arrival taking place m April, and its departure in the month of September. Its sprit,.. •„ ’ . B
different from its autumnal movement; for It arrives singly or in small parties, and geucrallv eSe, direel to il
breed,ng-grouuds on the hills ; .while in autumn it is spread over the country, and we find both old and young
in the lowlands, and sometimes in the gardens. They then gradually move southward, ami before' the cold ■
weather sets m will all have departed to the western part of France, Portugal, and Spain, whence thcv
again push onwards to the. shores o f the Mediterranean, and across that sea to their winter quarters in
Morocco and other parts o f North Afijjca.
"• U,,like the Hktfhhird, which locates itse lf in lowland woods. s !;r„l,l„n 4 , and ...inlens, ihc Hing-O.Kcl
resorts to the wildest tracts of our mountains, and there, far from the haunt« of man it breed
^rally constructing-its nest among the’ lock* d ; he wildest rie t» ¿md the inn it .3"
- occasionally in juniper bushes or patches ->f i'viv.r on the mow
* peaks, where the.'drinmoing o f tferr is beard, the raven otier* ka sonorot
ear are its companion«, and rS«,. .-usiii.sg Merlin jr> <-f<emv flrnr-nliv »jLnl.i wbe
■' mountains ofabove a t bousawi .fee* « lev«*«, m pw W & if tk « . it*» hi«} » to he fo
> that the rugged parts o f old Cornwall, the IW*~ imi
byshire, CiHoberland, the Pentium};., the tnafiftpiaos
among the places oa the maroknd frequented hv it 1 while the kkswi «is. a ,•
otti own. Tbir ir--
Mtaroh
, , s ' 7*
neys, ¡Shetland, and the Hebrides-—and a ll suitable situations in Irek ad are m
Mr. Stevenson, speaking o f the Urog-Ousel as sect» in Norfolk remarks rifen it is •
has been known occasionally to nest in that country-; “ and although probably overlooked from t.
resemblance to the common Blackbird, and the similarity the egg* ,,f t |,e two spceLs! it is not irap ro k Jj’
‘ that a few pairs may breed nearly every year in favourable districts; and I have reason to believe that such
the case a t Holkham.”
Mr. Rylaud, o f Horsey, informed Mr. Stevenson that he generally saw several every year in ihe ear!
I sl,r!"g. aD|i 4 % 1857 watched four, morning after morning, on tlie graas in front o fh is window • and
constantly did an old Missel-Tllrusli descend from an oak hard by, where she bad a nest, and aim tic l
one and then another, until she drove them away, showing'that she would not permit o f intruders, as th e*
birds really were*.
I f disposition the Ring-Ousel is bold end spirited, perches with upright breast o« the **>rr vmnnnt • ti
rock, and springs from stone to stone with the .greatest agility. At tiroes briMijiri
when driven from the bosh in which it has secreted itself, dies with surprising rapHir 1
loud defiant whistle, or. on airain aliirhtiiur on a «tone or . . . . ..
of the Petrocossyphi or I lock-Th poshes. to which, in mv .minion it is nearfv allied
It has always been an object with me while- writhur rru-* r - n i J J / 111 present wu-onrni-t to remier m^ »m.. e.<n ge ne ra.!« •infor»*»
tion as may be in my power respecting the range o f the Species over cuwitn«. t
fact is essential; for everyone, I s h o u l d . would lik e i*>knowwhither thisfiftl
it leaves us, and whence it has come when <•: - j «*. The Tting-Ousel is bv no nu
not found in India, nor in Africa sob tit (,>f tiic squat*)!. neither isit minhabit— y>i
the o ther hand, it is so generally diapers:•;!; lw h m.-ty he said to frequent every cons
economy. In the Alps and the Apennines, a matter of course, it is plentiful, as
east, and the highlands of Norway and Finland f t the north, while in the low c
scarce bird. Southward o f the Mediterranean. we lean« from LoeHe that I t winters *1
and Constantine. On the continent of Europe, as with us. it is a migrant n «
country o r a district. To most rules there is an : and a Swallow or a i
us does not constitute those birds permanent resident* any the more, 1 hove rruu