432 DIPPERS 



tops of the peaks at 14,000 feet. In the breeding season the males 

 have a flight song similar to that of the oven-bird, often ascending a 

 hundred feet singing as they go, and afterwards dropping almost 

 straight to the ground. 



Subgenus Neocorys. % 



700. Anthus spragueii (AucL). Sprague Pipit. 



Hind toe and claw longer than tarsus. Adults in summer : upper parts 



broadly streaked with blackish brown and grayish 



buff ; wing-s dusky, with pale edgings ; two outer 



pairs of tail feathers chiefly white ; outside pair 



sometimes wholly white ; under parts dull buff y 



white, more buffy across chest, where narrowly 



streaked with dusky. Adults in winter : browner 



above, more bufpy below, and chest streaks broader. 



Young : upper parts brownish buff, broadly streaked 



Fig. 543. with black ; feathers of back and scapulars tipped 



with buffy or whitish ; chin, throat, and sides of 



neck whitish, lower throat and sides of neck streaked with dusky; rest of 



under parts light buff ; chest and sides of breast streaked with black. 



Length : 5.75-7.00, wing 8.20-3.40, tail 2.35-2.60. 



Distribution. — Breeds on the interior plains of North America from the 

 Saskatchewan to Nebraska, and from the Red River west, probably, to the 

 Rocky Mountains ; winters in Louisiana, Texas, and northern Mexico ; acci- 

 dental in South Carolina. 



Nest. — Like that of A. pensilvanicus, but eggs pale purplish buffy or 

 buffy white, thickly spotted with purplish brown. 

 Food. — Insects, and seeds of weeds and grasses. 



The habits of the Sprague pipit closely resemble those of the other 

 pipits. In Coues's Birds of the Northwest there is an enthusiastic 

 description of the flight song of sjyragueii. 



FAMILY CINCLIDiE: DIPPERS. 



GENUS CINCLUS. 



701. Cinclus mexicanus <S?<'ams. Water Ouzel: Dipper. 



Bill shorter than head, slender, and compressed; wing short, stiff, 



rounded, with ten primaries, 

 the first spurious ; tail shorter 

 than wing, soft, of twelve 

 broad rounded feathers 

 almost hidden by coverts ; 

 tarsus Avithont scales ; claws 

 strongly curved. Adults in 

 summer: whole body nearly uniform slate gray, a trifle lighter below; 

 head and neck faintly tinged with brown. Adults in winter: similar, 

 but feathers of wings and under parts lightly tipped with white. Young : 

 similar to winter plumage, but under parts more or less mixed with white 

 and tinged with rustv. Length: 7.00-8.50, wing 3.40-3.81, tail 1.90-2.12, 

 bill .60-.70. 



Distribution. — Mountainous parts of central and western North America 



