THE BLACK-BELLIED DIPPER. 497 



Description (Plate 17).— Adult male and female. — Upper-parts 

 as in Common Wren but considerably darker especially crown 

 and nape which frequently have a blackish aj)pearance, bars of 

 rest of upper-parts blacker than in Common Wren ; brown mark- 

 ings on lores and ear-coverts darker ; chin, throat and breast darker 

 brownish-buff and not whitish and barring extending farther up sides 

 of breast than in Common Wren ; wings darker and under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries more distinctly barred than in Common Wren. 



Nestling and juvenile. — (Not examined.) 



Measurements and structure.— q wing 50-54 mm., tail 30-36, 

 tarsus 17-20, bill from skull 14-16 (14 measured). $ wing 48-51. 

 Structure as Common Wren but bill thicker and stronger. 



Breeding-habits. — Usually breeds in crevices in face of cliff or 

 under shelter of turf on steep bank. Ecjgs. — -Usually 6. 



Food. — Saxby records small insects, earthworms and sandhoppers 

 [Gammarus). Florence includes small Crustacea, larva of beetle 

 and seaweed. 



Distribution. — Confined to Shetlands, where it is resident. The 

 Wren inhabiting Fair Isle appears to differ from this form. 



[Note. — Wrens from Fair Isle and from Outer Hebrides are intermediate 

 between this form and T. t. troglodytes and are often as dark as T. t. zetlandicus 

 in colour. Ten males from Fair Isle measure : wing 48-54 mm., tail 29-32, 

 tarsus 18-19, bill 13-15] 



Genus CINCLUS Boikh. 



CiNCLUS Borkhausen, Deutsche Fauna, i, p. 300 (1797 — Monotj'pe : 

 Cincliis hydrophilus Borkh. = cincliis L.). 



Dippers agree with Wrens in their short, rounded wing, short 

 tail, copious plumage, nesting-habits, notes, musty smell and other 

 peculiarities. They are much laiger, body being almost as large 

 as that of a Redwing ; nostril covered by membrane, short feathers 

 of fore-head extending on bill to nostrils, no rictal bristles. Bill 

 straight, slightly depressed above nostrils. Tail short, square 

 or very slightly rounded, tail-feathers 12, tips square. Tarsus 

 long and strong, in front with a lamina, only divided into 2 

 scutes near base of toes. Plumage thick. Sexes alike, young 

 different. Eggs unspotted white. Inhabitants of mountainous 

 countries, Europe, northern Asia to Himalayas, China, and Formosa ; 

 western North America and Andes to Tucuman in Argentina, 



CINCLUS CINCLUS 



204. Cinclus cinclus cinclus (L.)— THE BLACK-BELLIED 

 DIPPER. 



Sturnus Cinclus Linnaeus, Syst. Nat., ed. x, i, p. 168 (1758 — " Habitat 

 in Europa." Restricted typical locality : Sweden). 



Cinclus rnelanog aster, Yarrell, i, p. 244 (in text) ; Saunders, p. 97 (in text). 



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