128 



BIRDS OF THE BRITISH ISLES. 



Blacfc^beUteb Dipper, 



THE Black-bellied Dipper (Cinchts aquaticus melanogaster, 

 Brehm) is a rare abnormal autumn migrant to the British 

 Islands ; it also occurs in Scandinavia, Northern Germany, 

 and Northern Russia. The adult male is similar in coloura- 

 tion to the common dipper, Cinclus aquaticus, with the 

 exception that the breast is black or nearly black, and not 

 chestnut-brown as in the latter bird. Indeed, the black- 

 bellied dipper is considered merely a form of the common 

 dipper. 



