DIPPER 101 



second. She had in her beak a small rainbow trout, which she 

 delivered to one of the young birds. Although there were four young 

 birds, at no feeding did I see more than two gaping mouths pro- 

 truding from the nest's entrance." The feeding visits of the male 

 "were about 1 to 10 as compared with those of the female," and 

 Dr. Cordier continues : 



The female fed about 8 times per hour. The male fed ofteuest between 

 10 and 2 o'clock, at which time the combined feeding visits averaged 12 per 

 hour. I noticed that the male made most of his visits to the nest while the female 

 was brooding. She entered the nest by crawling over the young birds, turned 

 about within the nest cavity and remained far back in the nest. At such 

 times when the male made his visits, she remained in the nest, the young birds 

 protruding their heads from beneath her breast to receive food from the 

 male. * * * 



The birds are extremely cleanly in their habits. As the interior of the nest 

 was often inspected, any excrement found adhering to a straw or piece of 

 moss was carefully picked up and carried away. The young birds when 

 defecating turned the tail toward the nest entrance and with a well marked 

 expulsive effort shot foecal mass 4 to 6 inches from the nest. These masses 

 were always enclosed in a membrane. Many of them rolled unbroken down 

 the rocky incline into the water and were carried down stream. Those re- 

 maining were picked up by the female and removed. * * * One bird only 

 was fed at a feeding visit. 



Probably two broods usually are raised in a season under favorable 

 circumstances throughout most of the dipper's range, though this is 

 hardly likely in the more northern regions. The young are much 

 more precocial than are the young of other passerine birds. They 

 seem to know instinctively, as soon as they leave the nest, how to run, 

 climb, dive and swim, or flutter along the surface of the water ; they 

 soon become as much at home in the water as their parents. 



Claude T. Barnes has sent me the following interesting account: 

 "On July 24, 1930, while I was in City Creek Canyon, near Salt 

 Lake City, Utah, at an altitude of about 6,000 feet, it was my rare 

 good fortune to see a water ouzel feeding its young. Sitting idly 

 beside the noisy stream, I first heard a continuous cry, which re- 

 sembled somewhat the stridulation of a locust, yet more, in its 

 lusty character, the squeal of a mouse, distinct above the brook's 

 purling and extended for three or four minutes at a time. Puzzled, 

 I waited until the cause appeared; a young water ouzel, nearly as 

 large as its mother, hopped to a stone on the opposite bank, con- 

 stantly making the crying sound, which I thought now similar to 

 the noise of a fighting hummingbird. The mother ouzel was ahead, 

 wading the stream, diving occasionally into the water, and busying 

 herself with the finding of worms and grubs. As she did this the 

 young bird cried, watched her, followed her, flipped its wings, and, 

 every few moments, made the characteristic bob of the species. Fi- 



758066—48 8 



