380 Mr. H. E. Dresser on the PaUearctic 



white on the tail, and the uuderparts of the body of a dull 

 white. It has only one alar bar= The specimen in question 

 was obtained by Dr. Maack in the valley of the Amoor. 



In conclusion, there appears to be no doubt that all the 

 above-mentioned species are descended from one parent stock, 

 Lanius excubitor or Lanius borealis, probably the latter, as 

 L. excubitor shows a tendency to cast back towards L. borealis. 

 They may be treated either as permanent varieties or sub- 

 species, or else as fairly good species though closely allied 

 and to some extent connected by intermediate links. But in 

 the present case, as the characteristics are fairly definable, I 

 deem it expedient to adopt the last alternative. 



I do not give any table of measurements, as I find on 

 examination that they do not yield any practical result. 



XXXII. — Remarks on the Palcearctic White-breasted Dippers. 

 By H. E. Dresser, F.L.S., F.Z.S. 



Twenty-five years have elapsed since Mr. Salvin's excellent 

 article on the genus Cinclus was published in this journal, 

 and eighteen since I wrote the article on Cinclus aquaticus in 

 the ' Birds of Europe ' and gave a short review of its allies. 

 It is also now more than ten years since vol. vi. of the British 

 Museum ' Catalogue of Birds,^ containing the Cinclidce, was 

 issued. During this period, as may well be imagined, much 

 more information on the subject has been published and 

 a much larger material for the discussion of the question is 

 now available. I have lately been examining as large a series 

 of Dippers as I could get together, and the result is that 

 I have to some extent modified the views I held eighteen years 

 ago. It may therefore be of interest to ornithologists if 

 I place on record what further information I have been able 

 to glean on the subject, and report progress up to date. 



The Dipper is essentially a non-migratory species, and 

 unless driven out by stress of weather does not appear at any 

 time to wander far from its usual range, which is, as a rule, 

 confined to mountainous districts and to places where there is 



