THE DIPPERS OR WATER-OUZELS. 313 



the materials were pulled to pieces, one could hardly believe 

 that they could be made to take up so little room. Outside it 

 appeared nothing but a large oval ball of moss, about 1 1 inches 

 long, 8 inches wide, and about as high." 



Eggs. Four or five in number. Pure white, without any 

 spots, but not glossy as are the eggs of Kingfishers. The 

 shape varies a good deal. Axis, ro-n inch; diam., 07-075. 

 (Plate xxix., fig. i.) 



II. THE BLACK-BELLIED DIPPER. CINCLUS CINCLUS. 



Sturnus rinchts, Linn., Syst. Nat, i., p. 200 (1766). 



Cinclus melanogaster, Dresser, B. Eur., ii., p. 177, pi. xx. 



(1873) ; B. O. U. List Brit. B., p. 24 (1883) ; Lilford, Col. 



Fig. Brit. B., pt. xi. (1889); Saunders, Man., p. 89 (1889). 

 Cinclus cincluS) Sharpe, Cat. B. Brit. Mus., vi., p. 311 (1881). 



Adult Male. Similar in colour to C. aquaticus, but differing 

 in having the breast dark chocolate-brown or black, not rufous, 

 but sometimes having a slight tinge of rufous across the upper 

 part of the breast. Total length, 7-5 inches ; wing 3-8. 



Adult Female. Similar to the male in colour. Total length, 

 7'2 inches; wing, 3*5. 



Range in Great Britain. The Black-bellied Dipper has occurred 

 in the eastern counties of England. Many naturalists consider 

 that the two forms are not specifically distinct. It has been 

 pointed out by Mr. Seebohm that there is a variation in depth 

 of colour between examples found at different heights in the 

 Peak district of Derbyshire, those from 1,500 feet elevation 

 being darker than those from the lower elevations. Mr. Howard 

 Saunders also observes that examples from the upper portions in 

 the narrow valley of the Pyrenees above Luz and from the lofty 

 Cantabrian Mountains, in N.W. Spain, are -indistinguishable 

 from Scandinavian specimens, and this is certainly the case 

 with a specimen from Coimbra, in Portugal, sent to the British 

 Museum by Dr. Vieira. 



The Black-bellied form of Dipper inhabits Scandinavia and 

 Northern Russia, occurring also in Denmark, Northern Ger- 

 many, and Holland. It has also visited Heligoland. 



