WATER-OUZEL 515 



the breast ; but the lower portion of the latter bright chestnut, passing 

 backwards into blackish with a tinge of chestnut on the abdomen, and 

 into slaty grey on the flanks. In young birds there is no chestnut 

 on the lower surface. The total length of the adult varies from 7 to 

 7^ inches. 



The range of the ordinary water-ouzel is very restricted, including 

 only Great Britain and Ireland, France, Belgium, Holland, and the 

 greater part of Germany. In Scandinavia it is replaced by the 

 black-breasted water-ouzel {Cincliis niclanogastei\ or Cinclns cindus), 

 characterised by having the breast chocolate-brown or black, but 

 sometimes with a tinge of chestnut superiorly. In the Pyrenees and 

 Carpathians the group is represented by the red-bellied water-ouzel 

 {Cinclns albicollis), which has a paler and greyer plumage, with the 

 chestnut of the breast extending on to the abdomen. There are 

 indications of a transition between the British and Scandinavian birds — 

 between which the difference is, at most, not very great or important, 

 — and this suggests that they are races rather than species. 



A denizen of rapid streams with stony or rocky beds, the water- 

 ouzel is to be met with throughout Scotland, the north, south-west, 

 and parts of the midland districts of England, Wales, and Ireland. 

 In the midland counties of England, although not common, it 

 occurs in the Peak district of Derbyshire and the Charnwood forest 

 country of Leicestershire ; while there are reports as to its having 

 nested in Hampshire and even Middlesex. Except in the breeding- 

 season, these birds are solitary ; and at all times of the year they 

 frequent streams, where they obtain their food by searching the 

 gravelly or rocky beds for water-beetles, caddis-worms, and other in- 

 sects and their larvje ; but the allegation that they devour trout and 

 salmon spawn has been denied. In taking to the water, the w^ater- 

 ouzel either walks deliberately in or enters by a sudden plunge. The 

 four or five dull white eggs are laid in a huge domed nest of moss 

 jammed into the crevice between two rocks or betwixt the roots of a 

 tree on the water's edge. 



Examples of the black-bellied water-ouzel {Cinclns nielanogaster^ or 

 Cinclns aqnaticns inelanogastcj') have from time to time been recorded 

 from E!ast Anglia. 



The British water-ouzel {Cinclns aqnaticns britannicns^ differs from 

 C. aqnaticns gcruianicns of Germany by its deep blackish upper surface 

 and dark crown, from C. a. typicns of Scandinavia by the rufous breast- 

 band, which it shares with C. a. gernianicns. The latter is nearest 

 to C. a. pyrenaicns, which is, however, apparently smaller. Although 



