60 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH INLAND BIRDS 
to all such well-established variations, and others 
preferring to keep the name of species for cases 
where the difference is more thoroughly marked. 
All species, at some time or other, have grown out 
of slight variations, and it is merely a question of 
where best to draw the line. In the present case, 
at any rate, the Dippers of different parts of Europe 
blend from one type or variety into another with so 
little trace of a real break that it seems best to 
regard them as a single species, and not to multiply 
names unnecessarily. The typical Black-bellied 
Dipper differs from the typical English one only 
in having less chestnut and more black upon its 
under parts ; and even in England the Dippers in 
the high mountains are darker than those in the 
lower hills, so that we see the intermediate stages 
of transition displayed which join the two forms 
into one. 
BEARDED TITMOUSE. 
(^Panurus biarmicus.') 
Reed Pheasant, Bearded Reedling. — This strik- 
ing bird is an inhabitant of mere and fen countries, 
and has suffered so much by the draining of such 
tracts in many counties of England where it once 
bred that it has come very near extinction. In 
the last few years, however, the Wild Birds' Pro- 
