408 Annals of the Carnegie Museum. 



Family CINCLIDvE. Dippers. 



374. Cinclus rivularis Bangs. 



Cinclus rivularis Bangs, Proc. Biol. Soc. Washington, XIII, 1899, 105 (Chirua 



[type-locality] and Paramo, de Chiruqua ; orig. descr. ; type now in coll. 



Mus. Comp. Zool.). — Allen, Bull. Am. Mus. Nat. Hist., XIII, 1900, 121, 



181 (Bangs' reference). — Dubois, Syn. Avium, I, 1901. 419 (ref. orig. 



descr.; range). — Sharpe, Hand-List Birds, IV, 1903, 102 (ref. orig. descr.; 



range). — Ridgway, Bull. U. S. Nat. Mus., No. 50, III, 1904, 677 (diag. ; 



range; ref. orig. descr.). — Stejneger, Smithsonian Misc. Coll., Quarterly 



Issue, XLVII, 1905, 424 (diag.). — Brabourne and Chubb, Birds S. Am., 



I, 1912, 340 (ref. orig. descr.; range). 



Four specimens : Macotama, San Miguel, and Taquina. 



Although clearly an offshoot from C. Icuconotus of the Andes of 

 Venezuela, Colombia, and Ecuador, developed no doubt through isola- 

 tion, this species is perfectly distinct, having much less white on both 

 the upper and under parts. The color of the pileum is the same in 

 both, but the back is almost uniform dusky slate-color, with concealed 

 shaft-streaks of white at the bases of the feathers, instead of the large 

 white blotch of C. Icuconotus. The wings, tail, and lower parts from 

 the throat down are uniform with the back, except that all but one of 

 the specimens in the present series have more or less white mottling 

 below, possibly indicative of immaturity. In this odd specimen the 

 throat is much shaded with dusky slate-color; in the others it is pure 

 white. Mr. Bangs has noted similar variation in his specimens, which 

 were the only ones known to science up to the time the present series 

 were secured. 



Of the three specimens of the Santa Marta Dipper taken by Mr. 

 Brown two were said to have come from Chirua, at 7,000 feet, and the 

 third from the Paramo de Chiruqua, at n,ooo feet. However, the 

 Chirua specimens either were not taken at that place, or else they came 

 from a much lower altitude. The species properly belongs to the 

 Temperate Zone, but is one of the few which is known to extend its 

 range downward into the Subtropical, following its habitat. It was 

 not noted by the writer above 9,000 feet, this record referring to the 

 Macotama specimen, but on the other hand it was found in the river at 

 Pueblo Viejo, as low as 2,000 feet. It is a rare bird and very hard to 

 secure, because of its shyness and its habit of keeping among the rocks 

 of the rapid mountain streams, being partial to the spray-drenched 



