314 IXSECTI VOILE. 



first plumage, mottled. This bird has been classed with 

 warblers, but it does not appear to have much song.* 



THE DIPPER 



There is only one British species of dipper ; but it has so 

 many peculiar characters, that it cannot be properly included 

 in any other genus, as there is no other British bird that 

 much resembles it in shape, in colour, or in habits. The bill 

 is slender, with a slight bend upwards, the mandibles bent 

 inward at the edges, and the upper one margined and very 

 slightly hooked at the tip. The head is small, and the fore- 

 head remarkably low ; the body short and compact, the wings 

 very short and rounded, the tail also short, but very stout 

 and strongly fortified by coverts. The whole is what one 

 would call a " dumpy" bird, but there is an expression of 

 great energy and activity about it. Its plumage, also, is 

 remarkably thick and close, resembling that of the water 

 birds. Like these, it is amply supplied with oil for its 

 feathers ; and, though a considerable time in the water, the 

 plumage on the living bird does not become wet. The head, 

 back, and sides of the neck, are deep brown ; the rest of the 

 upper part is black, with some variations of brownish-grey. 

 The tail feathers and quills are quite black. The throat, 

 chin, and breast, are white, passing into reddish-brown about 

 the middle of the belly, and becoming gradually deeper and 

 blacker towards the end of the tail. The bill is dark brown, 

 the irides brownish-yellow, and the feet yellowish-grey. The 

 sexes are like each other in their markings, only the brown 

 on the head of the female is darker, and the white on the 

 breast less pure. The young birds have that part of the head 



* The blue-breast, or blue-throated redstart, does not belong to the 

 group of wagtails, but to the same group which contains the common. 

 irt and the Tethys redstart. It is the Phoenicvra suecica of Selby 

 Cyanecula suecica of Boie. 



