THE BLACKBIRD.

TURDUS MERULA.

Lon-dubh.

BLAIR, in his beautiful poem, "the Grave," after describing the pleasures enjoyed by himself and a companion, when wandering heedlessly in some thick wood away from the "vulgar eye," thus introduces the Blackbird and his ally:—

"And sat us down

Upon the sloping cowslip-covered bank

Where the pure limpid stream has slid along

In grateful eddies through the underwood,

Sweet murmuring; methought the shrill-tongued thrush
Mended his song of love; the sooty blackbird
Mellowed his pipe, and softened every note;

The eglantine smelled sweeter, and the rose
Assumed a dye more deep; whilst every flower
Vied with its fellow plant in luxury

Of dress."

But in ushering this fine "negro vocalist" into these pages, I shall not dwell upon his habits in cultivated haunts, these being already familiar to all readers and observers. The life of the merle in the Hebrides has never been associated with verdant woods or beds of roses. There he has no flower-covered lawn or tall poplar tree on which to begin and end the day; he lives but on poor diet, picked from the spray-covered rocks, and sings himself to rest, it may be, on a turf-built wall, or mound of stones in the midst of some desolate moor.

The Blackbird is common at times only in the outer group of islands. On Lewis, although a well-known resident, it is not so numerous as the thrush, but the great improvements near Stornoway will no doubt attract the species more in future, and it may therefore be expected to increase. On Harris it is likewise resident, and also on North Uist, but in very limited numbers; while on Benbecula it is wholly absent in summer, being only a winter visitant. On Iona and Mull it is also a winter bird only; but in some of the other inner islands it is resident. I have found several pairs of Blackbirds on Ailsa Craig; one of these had their nest in a turret hole of the old castle ruins, nearly half way towards the

summit of the island. I remember one very hot day in July, hearing a Blackbird sing in a cave there; it had penetrated to the inmost recesses of this dark abode, which must have been a familiar haunt, as on going in to ascertain its extent, I found the bird was able to steer directly out of it, without flitting by side jerks until it regained the entrance.

In some districts of Scotland Blackbirds have of late years multiplied to a great extent; the island of Arran, for example, since the destruction of birds of prey there, has been completely overrun with them.

After the breeding season is over, these birds, in Ayrshire, repair in great numbers to the sea-coast between Girvan and Ballantrae, seeking shelter in hot days under blocks of stone and large flat rocks lying on the beach. On one occasion I turned out eighteen Blackbirds from under a flat rock, resting on broken stones, by poking them with a walking stick. I have seen sparrowhawks and merlins-apparently aware of this habit-hunting these rocks in vain at mid-day, where the Blackbirds were all concealed, but pertinaciously beating about in the neighbourhood, knowing their quarry to be there, although unable in the meantime to dislodge it.

THE RING OUZEL.

TURDUS TORQUATUS.

Dubh chraige.

IN many parts of Ayrshire and Argyleshire, especially wild moorlands where there is a mixture of heath and lichen-covered rocks, the Ring Ouzel is very plentiful in the breeding season. On its arrival in April, it may be seen high up on the mountain sides, perched on some grey boulder, and shifting mysteriously from rock to rock, somewhat in the manner of a wheatear, facing the intruder, and remaining motionless a few seconds, till a nearer approach drives it away. After occupying these haunts about ten days, the male begins his call-notes, which at first are not at all musical; the cry, in fact, is more like the yelping note of a whimbrel, and appears to be exerted only when the bird's haunts are invaded. After the nest is formed, the note of the Ring Ouzel

gains melody, and has a somewhat wild and bewildering effect on the listener as he stands on the dreary waste of heath.

Numbers of Ring Ouzels breed in Dumbartonshire, Stirlingshire, Ayrshire, Wigtownshire, and a few in the Upper Ward of Lanarkshire. They descend, as the autumn advances, to the lower grounds, where they frequent gardens, and are not in general looked upon as favourites, being then "dingy and tuneless" thieves, devouring cherries and gooseberries with a keen relish, after a six months' experience of their mountain diet. In October they slip away southwards, and leave the West of Scotland at the Mull of Galloway, where young birds occasionally lose their reckoning, and dash themselves against the lantern of the lighthouse.

I have never been able to trace this species on any of the Outer Hebrides, although Mr Yarrell states that Mr Bullock obtained its nest on some of the islands, probably, however, one of the inner group. Mr Elwes informs me that it has been occasionally found in Islay. It is likewise an occasional visitant to Orkney, small flocks having been observed in 1822, 1829, and 1835. Numbers appeared in these islands in October, 1836. These occurrences seem to have escaped Mr Yarrell's notice.

THE GOLDEN ORIOLE.

ORIOLUS GALBULA.

THE late Dr Fleming mentions, in his "History of British Animals," that he saw a specimen of this bird, which was killed in the island of Arran in 1807; and in the same year another example of the species was taken at Restalrig, near Edinburgh. Besides these instances, mention is made of a third, shot in Berwickshire, in the statistical account of the parish of Cockburnspath, by the Rev. Andrew Baird, who was a very careful and accurate observer. No record of any other Scottish specimen has been made, so far as I know. It may be worth noting here, that a fine Golden Oriole was shot in June of the present year (1868) in the Isle of Man, and taken in the flesh to Mr Hastings, bird stuffer in Dumfries, for preservation.

The habits of so showy and attractive a bird are, of course, not easily studied in a country where the rarer visitors enjoy but a brief existence amid so many watchful collectors. We have, there