CATALOGUE OP THE BIRDS OF SUFFOLK 



49 



bourhood of Bojton (Carthew MS.). The chesnut- breasted form shot 

 on the river Deben (W. P. T. Phillips' Collection, C. B. !). 



West Suffolk. 



6. A pair of the chesnut-breasf ed form from the Stour above Sudbury, 

 formerly in Mr. King's Collection, (Hills v.v.). Mr. Hills bought them 

 at the Sale of the Sudbury Museum and gave them to me. C. B. 



Month. — November. 



Districts. — 1, 2, 3, 6. 



Extremely rare in Suffolk, though it has been found in 

 several parts of the county, mostly not very far from the 

 sea. Both the chesnut-breasted and the black-breasted forms 

 occur; the latter bird is commonly regarded as Scandinavian, 

 and may have found its way from Denmark to the Suffolk 

 shore. Only a few however are so recorded as to show to 

 what form they belong. Professor Newton thinks that the 

 C. aqualicus and C. melanogaster* can hardly be regarded as 

 specifically distinct (see Newton's Yarrell i., 244, and 

 Dresser's Birds of Europe ii., 168-171 and 177-180, for the 

 geographical distribution). 



• Some authorities hold that the speci- 

 mens (from Norfolk, Yorkshire, and 

 Ireland) so determined are not the true 

 C. melanogaster (see List Brit. Birds by 

 Brit. Ornith. Union, p. 24, Lond.1883). A 

 Yorkshire and a Norfolk specimen belong- 

 ing to Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., were 

 examined by Mr. Seebobm and Mr. R. B. 

 Sharpe, and considered by them to belong 

 to that species. I showed the black- 

 breasted form mentioned above to Mr. 

 Seebohm, who writes as follows : — " Mr. 

 Smith's specimen is an intermediate 

 form between C. aquations and C. 

 melanog aster. It shows some chesnut on 

 the breast though very little, and 

 resembles most the semi-alpine form of 

 C.aquaticus from the Peak of Derbyshire. 

 These birds do not differ in coiour in 

 their first year from immature C. 

 melanog aster. This example shows some 

 rufous on the tips of the under tail-coverts 

 and it is impossible to determine of which 



form it is an immature bird. There is 

 nothing to prove that it is not an 

 immature C. melanogaster." Mr Sharpe 

 agrees with me in being disposed to refer 

 it to C. melanogaster. " The two 

 examples," says Mr. Seebohm, " from the 

 R. Stour are typical C. aquaticus with 

 very rufous breasts and somewhat pale 

 heads and necks. They are probably 

 birds of the second year." After 

 examining a considerable number of 

 specimens of C. aqualicus and C. 

 melanogaster from various countries of 

 Europe, I cannot but think that they 

 must not be regarded as truly distinct 

 species, but only at most as climatic 

 variations. Specimens from the same 

 country and even from the same county vary 

 considerably in their plumage both above 

 and below. Examples from Buxton in 

 Derbyshire have comparatively less 

 chesnut colour, when placed beside others 

 from Dovedale in the same county. 



