168 



the eye pure white ; lower part of the hreast rusty red, merging into blackish brown, which latter 

 colour pervades the rest of the underparts, the flanks, however, being washed with dark slate ; beak 

 blackish; legs dull brown; iris brown. Total length 65 inches, culmen 0'87, wing 35, tail 2T, 

 tarsus 1T2. 



Adult Female. Undistinguishable from the male. 



Young bird of the year. Above much paler than the adult bird, being dull slaty brown, each feather 

 narrowly margined with dark blackish brown, primaries narrowly, and secondaries aud larger wing- 

 coverts more broadly tipped with dull white ; underparts white, excepting the flanks and portions of 

 the anal region, which are slaty brown, the feathers on the breast and abdomen here and there 

 narrowly tipped with brown. 



Nestling (Sterlingshirc) . Similar to the above, but on the breast and abdomen conspicuously marked with 

 blackish brown and washed with pale yellowish buff; the short wing-feathers are only narrowly tipped 

 with huffy white ; on the back and head, portions of slaty down still adhere. 



Obs. Having examined a considerable series of White-breasted Dippers from various localities, the following 

 observations as to the various subspecies may not be out of place : — 



England and Scotland. Fourteen specimens from the north of England and Scotland agree well inter se, 

 and are all referable to Cinclus aquations, having the upper parts dark, and a considerable quantity of rufous 

 on the breast. As a rule I find that this species has a shorter wing than Cinclus melanogaster, of which I have 

 had no opportunity of examining an English-killed specimen. 



Ireland. A single specimen, the only one which I have been able to obtain from there, is C. melanogaster, 

 and agrees closely with specimens I have received from Sweden. 



K/iine Provinces. A not quite mature specimen, obtained at Altenkirchen, agrees with British-killed 

 examples. 



Spain. Five specimens in the collection of Mr. Howard Saunders all belong to the subspecies I have 

 deemed it best to keep separate under the name of C. albicollis. Two, however, from Santander have the 

 underparts less rufous than the other specimens, one in particular having very little trace of rufous on the 

 breast; and it would seem as if in the mountains of Spain there were a race of C. albicollis darker than the 

 bird found at a lower altitude, and in coloration of the underparts slightly approaching C. melanogaster, 

 though the upper parts arc much paler than in that species and are scarcely, if at all, darker than in typical 

 examples of C. albicollis. Canon Tristram, in whose collection are two specimens of this dark-breasted 

 C. albicollis, has referred them to C. melanogaster; but, after a most careful comparison with a series of 

 specimens, I cannot agree with him in this identification. 



Switzerland. Four specimens from St. Gothard and Ursern are all typical C. albicollis, and agree very 

 closely with others from 



Italy, from which I have four specimens, all collected in Piedmont by Count Salvadori, and, with those 

 from Switzerland, having on the average considerably more rufous on the underparts than is the case with the 

 Spanish birds. The upper parts of these specimens are likewise very pale, though scarcely paler than one or 

 two of the Spanish birds. 



Greece. Three specimens collected by Dr. Kruper in Macedonia agree tolerably closely with examples 

 from Italy, the only difference being that they have rather less rufous on the abdomen, and the lower parts of 

 the abdomen, flanks, and region round the vent are paler and washed with light slate-grey. In size, as will 

 be seen by the table of measurements, these Greek specimens run somewhat smaller than the average of 

 European examples, one specimen measuring precisely the same as Canon Tristram's type of C. aquaticus, 

 var. minor. 



