120 



THE OOLOGIST. 



^k so hi 



River above Washington. Here it 

 revels during the sunny days of spring 

 and the long scorching daj's of summer, 

 never being very far from the moist 

 shady gorges or the springs which dis- 

 ■charge themselves like little cascades 

 ■over the rocky cliffs. Here one associ- 

 ates them e^arly in spring with the 

 crimson mantle of the Judas tree, and 

 later in the season with the flaming 

 'blossoms of the trumpet creeper. 



They will not infrequently become as 

 •semi-domesticated as the common wren, 

 nesting in the corn barn or the hay 

 imow. Last year a pair took up their 

 •quarters in the second story of my 

 carriage barn, where the hay was 

 stored. The first nest made early in 

 June was placed in a corner between 

 the post and the brace, and was made 

 of the most flexible bits of hay and the 

 .softest clover leaves, bt^ing lined with 

 hair and feathers. It contained six 

 <^ggs, white specked with redJish- 

 browu. The second nest built in 

 August, and containing five eggs, was 

 ■<liagonally across the room in the cor- 

 ner similarly placed, and the same in 

 general construction, l)ut lacked the 

 lining of hair and feathers. The bird 

 was very tame and kept her nest quite 

 closely. I even looked at her once by 

 night with the lantern without disturb- 

 ing her in the least. The young were 

 raised successfully, and took their de- 

 parture in the most leisnrely and prop- 

 er manner. 



At Sandy Spring about eighteen 

 miles from Washington, one was 

 known to nest in a corn-barn for 

 .•several years in s^uccession, building its 

 nest of the silks of the corn. It seems 

 therefore, to make its nest out of any 

 soft and flexible material which may be 

 at hand. 



It has various fwittciing conversational 

 notes, easily identified. Its song, loud, 

 spirited, clear and resonant, and some 

 what varied, is cheerful indeed, but not 

 so higlily mnsical to my ear as it seems 



to some. Its greatest charm is in the 

 fact that we hear it more or less fre- 

 quently nearly all the year, for the bird 

 is a resident. It is but a plain artist in 

 song compared with the voluble and 

 rapturous winter wren, as we hear it in 

 the swamps and low woodlands of the 

 north. 



J. H. Lanille. 



American Dipper. 

 Cinchis mexicanus. 



Hab. — Western North America in 

 mountainous districts. 



Des. — The entire bird is of a grayish- 

 slate color. 



Length — Six inches, length of tail one 

 and one-half inches, length of bill five- 

 eighths of an inch, length of wing three 

 inches. Iris brown. 



A few general notes on this species 

 may be of interest to the readers of the 

 OoLOGiST as I doubt if many of you 

 have the opportunity of seeing it in its 

 natural haunts. 



The Water Dipper frequents wild 

 mountain streams where the water is 

 very rapid, where perpendicular rocks 

 line the boi'ders and where the mist and 

 spray of the swift running stream are 

 continually falling on it. Here it loves 

 to stay and may be seen upon some 

 rock, bobbing up and down like a Sand- 

 piper or diving up the swift current, 

 letting the water wash it back upon the 

 rock. The rocks which they frequent 

 most are either just above or below 

 some water-fall. 



I have seen this bird dive under the 

 swift running water and come up a dis- 

 tance of thirty feet from where it enter- 

 ed. At other times it will drop upon 

 the water and float down two or three 

 hundred feet, when it will fly back and 

 repeat the operation. 



Its song is as beautiful as the moun- 

 tain stream which it frequents and can- 

 not be surpassed by any. One can sit 



