Perching Birds. 
81 
THE 
ALPINE ACCENTOR. 
( Accentor collaris.) 
The Alpine Accentor. 
THE DIPPER. 
(Cincltts aquaticus.) 
as the Ural Mountains. The plain colouring of the 
species, its brown back, striped with black, and 
slaty gfey under surface have doubtless suggested its 
resemblance to a Sparrow, but here the resemblance 
ends, for the Sparrow is a Finch, and the Accentor is 
a sort of dwarf Thrush, with spotted young. 
This species is only an 
occasional visitor to Great 
Britain, but nearly a dozen 
authentic records of its 
occurrence have been published. It is a mountain- 
loving bird, quite different in its habits from our 
garden-frequenting Hedge-Sparrow, from which it differs moreover in its more 
pointed wing. The Alpine Accentor is an inhabitant of the mountains of Southern 
Europe from Spain to the Caucasus and Northern Persia, and it is also found in 
the mountains of other parts of Central Europe, breeding on the higher ground and 
wintering in the lower valleys. The nest is placed on the ground under the shelter 
of a bush, and the eggs are greenish blue. 
This interesting bird is only found in the mountainous 
districts of Central and South-western England, and in 
similiar localities in Wales and Ireland, but it is met with 
throughout Scotland, near rocky streams and rivers. It is an unmistakable species, 
appearing, at first sight, to be quite black as it stands on a stone in the middle of a 
torrent or perches on 
the banks of a brook, 
but its white throat and 
chest are soon plainly 
observable. Below this 
white chest, the breast 
is rufous and the sides 
of the body are slaty- 
grey. The sexes are 
alike, but the young 
birds are mottled with 
black edges to the grey 
feathers of the upper 
surface, and with dusky 
margins to the white 
plumage of the lower 
parts. 
The Dipper is an The Dipper. 
6 
