3 
seven specimens, 3°5 to 3°8 inches; Great Britain, ten specimens, 3°9 to 4°2, the average being about 
4:05; Bulgaria, one specimen, 3°9; Turkey in Europe and Asia Minor, twelve specimens, 3:7 to 4°2, 
the average being about 3°9; Chimkent, one specimen, 3°75 ; Etawah, one specimen, 3:6; Lake Baikal, 
one specimen, 3°8; China, two specimens, 3°55 and 3:9; Java, one specimen, 8°8. From this it will be 
seen that the length of the tail cannot be taken as a characteristic distinction ; and in any other respect 
I can detect no difference between Asiatic and European birds. Specimens from the Azores and 
Madeira are the most aberrant, as the colours are so intense, and the black on the throat so deep in 
colour; but I cannot trace any specific distinction between them and examples from the continent of 
Europe. They have the white streaks on the side of the head, over the eye, and bordering the throat 
very slightly defined, being scarcely visible in some specimens, but always present. Lord Walden has 
given (Trans. Zool. Soe. ix. p. 197) a very complete table of measurements of specimens in his collection 
from various localities, which agree tolerably well with mine; but he appears to take the measurements 
rather fuller than I do, and he has not had any of the short-tailed specimens from Turkey, of which I 
possess three, the tails of which measure 3°7, 3°8, and 3:9 inches respectively, whereas he gives 4°12 as 
the length of the tail of the shortest-tailed Turkish specimen. 
TuE range of the present species is very extensive; for it is met with in Europe as far north as 
the British Isles and Northern Germany, occurs in Northern Africa, and is met with in Asia as 
far east as Japan, and as far south as Java. 
In Great Britain it is, as a species, a permanent resident, though individually a partial 
migrant; for many young birds leave for the south in the autumn. Being a bird that only 
frequents localities where running water is found, and disliking the plains, it is somewhat 
locally distributed, especially during the breeding-season. In the south-western counties it 
breeds only in small numbers, but has been found nesting regularly in Cornwall and on 
Dartmoor. In a note received from Mr. J. Gatcombe, he says, ‘‘many of this species remain 
in Devon and Cornwall the whole year, and may be found breeding by the sides of all our 
rivers and moorland streams, frequently under the arch of a bridge. During autumn and 
winter they may be seen in the towns and by the sea-side.” Mr. A. C. Stark tells me that he 
has found it breeding in Devonshire, more commonly on all the Dartmoor streams than in any 
district he has visited, either in Scotland or North Wales. Mr. Cecil Smith also informs me 
that he believes it breeds in the Channel Islands, as he saw several when on a visit to Guernsey 
and Sark in June and July. In Somersetshire, he adds, it certainly remains to breed; for he 
took its nest, and has also seen it about at various times during the summer. From October 
to April, it is common in that county; but its breeding-haunts are chiefly in the northern 
portions of our island. Professor Newton says that “a line drawn across England from the 
Start Point, slightly curving to round the Derbyshire hills, and ending at the mouth of the Tees 
will, it is believed, mark off the habitual breeding-range of this species in the United Kingdom.” 
Mr. A. G. More gives instances of its having been occasionally met with nesting in Dorset, 
Bucks, and Gloucester, and says that it is believed to breed in Wilts, Hants, and Kent; and he 
adds it is found on the streams of North Wales. In Scotland, according to Mr. Robert Gray, it 
is resident in the western districts, but does not occur in the Outer Hebrides, though it is found 
on the inner islands, being not uncommon during winter in Islay and Skye. On the mainland it 
ranges from Sutherlandshire to the shores of Wigtownshire; and it is occasionally seen, Dr. 
Saxby says, in small numbers in Skye in August and September, but he has not found it breeding 
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