THE DIPPERS. 309 



wing barred with black and white ; bill blackish-brown, the 

 base yellow ; feet reddish-brown ; iris brown. Total length, 

 6-8 inches; culmen, 0-55; wing, 4*05; tail, 2-5; tarsus, ro. 



Range in Great Britain. A rare visitor, but one of which 

 many authentic occurrences have been registered. The first 

 instance happened as long ago as August, 1817, and two 

 more birds were seen in the gardens of King's College, Cam- 

 bridge, in 1822. Other records refer to the occurrence of the 

 species in various places in England and Wales : in Suffolk, 

 Somersetshire, Devonshire, Gloucestershire, Yorkshire, Sussex, 

 and lastly, the bird was observed by Mr. Howard Saunders 

 himself on Snowdon on the 20th of August, 1870. 



Eange outside the British Islands. -The Alpine Accentor is an 

 inhabitant of all the mountain ranges of Southern Europe, 

 from Spain to Greece, and thence through Asia Minor and the 

 Caucasus into Northern Persia. It has occurred as a straggler 

 in the north of France, Belgium, Northern Germany, and even 

 Heligoland, while it also is found nearly every autumn in the 

 cliffs which fringe the River Loire. 



Habits. Like the Hedge-Sparrow of the gardens, the Alpine 

 Accentor is a tame bird in the mountains which it frequents ; 

 here it builds its nest on the higher grounds, descending in 

 winter into the low valleys. Its food consists of insects and 

 their larvae, but in winter it feeds upon seeds. The song is 

 said to resemble that of a Lark, and the bird ascends for thirty 

 or forty feet into the air and descends singing. 



Nest. Made of dry round stems of grass, mixed with fine 

 roots and lichens, and sometimes lined with moss, wool, or 

 hair. It is placed on the ground under an overhanging bush or 

 rhododendron-tree. (Cj. Seebohm I.e.) 



Eggs. Pale greenish-blue, without any spots. Axis, 0-9-0-95 

 inch ; diam., 0-65-07. 



THE DIPPERS. FAMILY CINCLID^). 



The Dippers or Water-Ouzels are comprised in a single genus 

 Cinclus, and they might very well be called Water- Wrens. No 

 one can examine the nest of the Dippers without recognising 



