CINCLUS LEUCOGAS T E R , Eversm
CINCLUS LEUCOGASTER, Eversm.
White-bellied Water-Ouzel.
Cinclus leucogaster, Eversm. Add. Pall. Zoog. Rosso-Asiat.—Bonap. Consp. Gen. Av., p. 252, Cinclus, sp. 3.
W e r e I to say that this is the only species o f Water-ouzel with an entirely white under-surface, I should be
stating what is not the case; for, strange to say, there are two Cincli inhabiting the mountain-streams of
the Andes both of which have the under-surface white, but which are smaller birds than the other members
of the genus, and, as they differ somewhat in form, might perhaps be with propriety separated into a
distinct g en u s: but in the Old World the present is the only species o f true Cinclus with a white breast
and abdomen ; and hence the term leucogaster is very appropriate.
The White-bellied Water-ouzel is another o f the birds noticed by Pallas, but which has been left for Evers-
mann to give it a specific appellation. In point of rarity, this bird surpasses the C. Pallasi; and, as was
the case with that species, I am indebted to the Trustees o f the Derby Museum at Liverpool for the loan of
the specimen I have figured from. Not having access in this country to any work in which the bird was
described, I was induced to write to Dr. Hartlaub, o f Bremen (a gentleman intimately acquainted with the
Russian Ornithological discoveries), and to solicit his assistance in the m atter; and he has kindly furnished
me with the following reply:—*
“ What I have to say about Cinclus leucogaster is very little. The bird was originally described by Evers-
mann in his * Addenda ad Pallasii Zoographiam Rosso-Asiaticam,’ a work of which nearly all the copies were
destroyed by fire, consequently very few remain. I have never seen it, but there was a copy in the library
o f the late Mr. Oken. The bird is very probably the ‘ Sturms Cinclus, var. * ad Teniseam, et in orientali
Siberia’ of Pall. Zoogr. Rosso-Asiat., tom. i. p. 426. Middendorf says (p. 163) that ‘ a specimen o f Cinclus
leucogaster was shot at Udskoi-Ostrog.’ All the specimens received at St. Petersburg came from Semipa-
latinsk, where the bird seems to be very common. I have seen numbers from that locality; and two specimens
from thence are contained in our collection. Mr. Brandt has giyen a notice of the bird in Tchithatskoff,
‘Voy. Scientif. Altai,’ p. 418.”
The present bird is the sixth species o f the genus with which I am acquainted as inhabiting the Old
W o rld : to these must be added the Cinclus Americanus, of the north-west parts of North America, and the
two little species found in the Andes, and the group will then be raised to nine. What important additions,
then, have lately been made to a genus formerly so limited in ex te n t! and how greatly has our knowledge
o f ornithology been increased in this as well as in every other direction!
Crown of the head ashy-brown, becoming paler on the sides and nape of the n eck; back brown ; wings
and tail greyish brown; chin, throat, and abdomen white; flanks and vent brown; under tail-coverts grey,
tipped with white; bill olive-black; feet brown; lighter on the front of the tarsi and toes.
The figures are about the natural size.