506 BIRDS OF INDIA. 



marginal, longitudinal; wings concave, 1st very short, 3rd and 

 4th sub-equal and longest ; 2nd scarcely shorter ; tail short and 

 even ; tarsus moderate, longer than middle toe ; feet moderate ; 

 lateral toes nearly equal, hind toe short ; claws tolerably curved. 



The Dippers are one of the most interesting groups of birds 

 among the whole class of Perchers, from their well known and 

 peculiar habits of procuring their food under water. They are birds 

 of rapid flight, and are beheved to use their wings for progression 

 under water. They form a large nest of moss and grass, with 

 a hole at one side, placed on a bank of a stream, among the roots 

 of a tree, or a crevice in a rock, and have five or six white eggs. 

 They are said, in Europe, to have two or three broods in the course 

 of the year. Most modern systematists agree in placing them close 

 to Pitta, and in the same family. Bonaparte makes a distinct family, 

 CincUdcB, in which he classes Eupetes (a remarkable IMalayan 

 bird), GralUna, Enicurus, Hijdrobata, and Zoothera, placing the 

 family between Motacillidce and Pittidce. Eupetes, with a Cincline 

 bill, has the highly rounded wings, &c., brown and dense flimsy 

 plumage, of a Timaline form. EptJiiamu'a of Australia is also 

 placed next Eupetes by Bonaparte ; but Gray places Grallinay 

 Eidcurus, and EptJiianura in his MotacilUncB. The Dippers are 

 found in Europe, Asia, and America. In India they are confined 

 entirely to the Himalayan Mountains. 



347. Hydrobata Asiatica, Swainson. 



Cinclus Pallasii apud Gould, Cent. H. B., pi. 24 — C. tenuirostris, 

 Gould apud Bonap. — C. maculatus, Hodgs., Gray, ZooL Misc. 

 (young) — Blyth, Cat. 913— HoiiSF., Cat. 251~Nambon</ kar- 

 riak, Lepch. — Chubia nakka, Bhot. 



The Brown Water-ouzel. 



Descr. — Plumage uniform dull brown ; bill black ; legs pale 

 brown ; soles of the feet yellow ; irides dark brown. 



Length about 8;^ inches ; wing 4 ; tail 2 ; bill at front |f; tar- 

 sus If. 



The young bird is mottled and spotted with dusky and whitish ; 

 the wings are edged with white, and the tail has a narrow white 



