2(3 SIXOIXO BIKIIS— OSCIXES. 



wliito ; tlio {jrpatcr and midillo win<i covfi-ts ami Icssi-r (|iiills li]ipcil with the samp. Tlie 

 colors iiion' unilonn. Lcii^rlli, 7. 'id ; wiiiii, 4.00 ; tail, 2.5."). 



llnh. Hocky Mimntaiiis Iroin I'.ritisli Aim-rica to Mexico, and west to tli<' Pacilic. 



I lir.st met with tlii.s plainly colored, but very intere.stiiig bird, at a moun- 

 tain stream in the Coast Ranges west of Santa Clara, where there was a pair 

 apparently mated, as early as March lOlh. About sunset I lieard the male 

 singing very melodiously as it sat on one of its favorite rocks in the middle 

 of the foaming rapids, making its delightful melody heard for quite a long 

 distance abo\-e the sound of the roaring water. I watched for some time 

 before I could perceive tlie min.strel, its somlire plumage concealing it in the 

 apiiroaching twilight. 



In May, I Ibund the nest of another pair along a stream a few miles far- 

 ther siiuth, tlie " Arroyo de los Gatos." It was l)uilt near the foot of a mill- 

 dam, and rested on a slight ledge under an o\-erhanging rock, from the top of 

 wliicli water was continually dripping. Its sliai)e wa.s that of an oven, with 

 a small door- way, and it was Viuilt externally of green moss (which in that 

 damp sjiot grew, and pre\'ented its easy ('iisco\-ery), lined witli soft, grass, and 

 contained young. The eggs have not yet been descrilied, but are ju'oliably 

 four to six, and white, like those of the European species. I found a similar 

 nest l)uilt in the root of a large tree whicli lay across a mill-dam, north of the 

 Columbia Pliver, in July, 1854, and was told there that the birds had already 

 raised a brood that season in the same nest, which tlien contained yoimg. 



The strange habits of this bird make it a very remarkable object, and it 

 attracts much attention wlierever found. It may be said to combine the 

 form of a sandjiiper, the song of a canary, and the aquatic habits of a duck. 

 Its food consists almost wliolly of aquatic insects, and these it pursues under 

 water, walking and flying witli perfect ease beneath a depth of several feet 

 of water. "When they di\-e below, there is a film of air surrounding them, 

 which looks like silver, and may assist in supporting respiration. They do 

 not, however, swim on the surface, l:)ut always di^-e, and sometimes fly across 

 streams beneatli the surface. They prefer clear, noisy mountain streams, 

 but 1 liave seen one on the summit of tlie Sierra Nevada, catching insects 

 along the shore of a calm mountain lake. 



Their flight is rapid and direct, like that nf a samlpiper, and wlicn tliey 

 alight it is always on a rock or li:)g, where they jerk their tails much like that 

 bird. They are fotuid in the Sierra Nevada, at least as far south as Fort 

 Tejon, and northward nearly to the Arctic regions. 



F.v.MiLV SAXICOLID.E. 



Cii.VK. "Wings very long aiul much pointed, reaching beyond the middle 

 of the short, square, or emarginated tail, and one and a half times for more) 



