Pcrchiiw Birds. 



8i 



The Alpine Accentor. 



THE 



ALPINE ACCENTOR. 



{Accentor collaris.) 



as the Ural Mountains. The plain colouring of the 

 species, its brown back, striped with black, and 

 slaty ^^rey under surface have doubtless suggested its 

 resemblance to a Sparrow, but here the resemblance 

 ends, for the Sparrow is a Finch, and the Accentor is 

 a sort of dwarf Thrush, with spotted young. 



This species is only an 

 occasional visitor to Great 

 Britain, but nearly a dozen 

 authentic records of its 

 occurrence have been published. It is a mountain- 

 loving bird, quite different in its habits from our 



garden-frequenting Hedge-Sparrow, from which it differs moreover in its more 



pointed wing. The Alpme Accentor is an inhabitant of the mountains of Southern 



Europe from Spain to the Caucasus and Northern Persia, and it is also found in 



the mountains of other parts of Central Europe, breeding on the higher ground and 



wintering in the lower valleys. The nest is placed on the ground under the shelter 



of a bush, and the eggs are greenish blue. 



This interesting bird is only found in the mountainous 

 districts of Central and South-western England, and in 

 similiar localities in Wales and Ireland, but it is met with 



throughout Scotland, near rocky streams and rivers. It is an unmistakable species, 



appearing, at first sight, to be quite black as it stands on a stone in the middle of a 



torrent or perches on 



the banks of a brook. 



but its white throat and 



chest are soon plainly 



observable. Below this 



white chest, the breast 



is rufous and the sides 



of the body are slaty- 

 grey. The sexes are 



alike, but the young 



birds are mottled with 



black edges to the grey 



feathers of the upper 



surface, and with dusky 



margins to the white 



plumage of the lower 



parts. 



The Dipper is an 



THE DIPPER. 

 (Cinclus aquaticus.) 



The Dipper. 



