1887. J PliOCEEDINGS OF UNITED STATES NATIONAL iMUSEUM. 226 



to liiglier country. It i.s ratlicr imiueioiis duiiiiy" tl](^ .suiiiiuer about 

 Mouut Sbasta from the ba«e. up to tiuibcr-line. 



l-aniily MOTACILLID.E. Wagtails. 

 Anthus pensilvauicus (Cicm.)- American Pipil. 



Plentiful iu tbo Sacrameuto Valley. It had a habit of \va(lin,i; in 

 shallow water like a sandpiper, and 1 have secured several at once by 

 taking a " line shot" along the river's edge. It was occasionally noted 

 along the ocean beaches of Humboldt County. 



Family CINCLID^E. Dipi-ehs. 



Ciiiclus niexicauus >S\vaiiis. American Dipper. 



One of the characteristic birds of the country, especially numerous iu 

 the foot-hills and mountains. 



Water Ouzels were common all along the McUloud Itiver in the fall 

 and winter, but from April 1 to July 1 it was only seen twice. This can 

 probably be accounted for by the birds having gone further into the 

 mountains to breed, for they were found in abundance on the rapid 

 streams about Mount Shasta in Julj-, August, and September. I found 

 one individual at the snowline on Shasta in midsummer, on an icy 

 rivulet llowing from beneath the perpetual snow. It was a surprise to 

 find this bird in such a desolate i)lace ; there seemed to be nothing for 

 an ouzel or any other bird to eat along that cold stream, full of ashy 

 sediment and flowing a couple of hundred yards only to disappear in 

 the loose pumice and other volcanic rocks of which the mountain is 

 composed. -Why should the bird leave its native streams iu the val- 

 leys for the desolate limit of perpetual snow? The Ouzel certainly 

 wanders into very inhospitable places, for I have seen it on the snow- 

 fed rivulets of the Aleutian Islands. 



It is a most persistent diver; I remember of watching one for nearly 

 two hours once, diving for some kind of tiny shell-lish. It plunged 

 from the upstream end of a low rock, about 4 feet loug, and was evi- 

 dently swept well down by the current, for it always rcai>i)eared sonui 

 distance below the rock, to which it would return. After a shake of 

 its plumage it would walk to the up[)er end to re[)eat the maneuver. 



Family TROGLODYTID.E. Wreus, Tlirasher.s, &c;. 

 Harporhynchus redivivus (Gamb.). Californian Thraslier. 



The only specimen obtained was found dead on the stage road neai- 

 Baird, on January 3, 1884. Judging from its wasted form it niiglit 

 have died from starvation. There was a little snow in some of the 

 gulches near by, and the bird had probably been overtaken by severe 

 weather. This is the only instance oi its occurrence in Northern Cali 

 fornia so far as I am aware. 

 Proc. N. M. 87 15 



