CHAPTER III. -DIPPERS 



FAM. CINCLID^ 



Chars. — Wiug of lO primaries, the 1st of which is spurious, 

 and, like the others, falcate ; wiug as a whole short, stiff, 

 rounded, and coneavo-couvex, something like that of a Grebe, 

 or gallinaceous bird. Tail still shorter than the wing, soft, 

 square, of 12 broad, rounded feathers, almost hidden by the 

 coverts, both sets of which reach nearly or quite to the end, the 

 under coverts beiug especially loug and full. Tarsi booted, 

 about as long as the middle toe and claw. Lateral toes equal 

 in length. Claws all strongly curved. Bill shorter than the 

 head, slender, attenuate, and compressed throughout, higher 

 than broad at the nostrils, about straight, but seeming to be 

 slightly recurved, owing to a sort of upward tilting of the supe- 

 rior mandible ; culuien at first slightly concave, then convex ; 

 commissure nearly straight, but slightly sinuous, to correspond 

 with the outline of the culmen, notched near the end; gonys 

 convex. Nostrils linear, opening beneath a large scale partly 

 covered with feathers. No rictal vibrissas, nor any trace of 

 brisfcles or bri8tle-tii)ped feathers about the nostrils. Plumage 

 soft, lustreless, remarkably full and compact, water proof. Body 

 stout, thick-set. Habits aquatic. 



This is a small but well defined group, in which the general 

 characters shared by the Turdidce, SaxicoHdcc and Sylviidw are 

 modified to a degree, in adaptation to tlie singular aquatic life 

 the species lead. As generally understood, it consists of a 

 single geuws, Cinclus, to which a second, found in Asia, is some- 

 times added. These birds frequent clear mountain streams of 

 various parts of the world, chiefly, however, of the Northern 

 Hemisphere. It would scarcely be incorrect to say that they 

 inhabit these streams; for a considerable part of their time 

 is actually spent in the water — not merely on or near it — in 

 gleaning for food beneath the surface. It is marvelous what 

 a little change of structure fits them for such an anomalous 

 mode of life — one wholly exceptional in the order to which they 



