264 LAND BIRDS 
701. WATER OUZEL, OR AMERICAN DIPPER. 
Cinclus mexicanus. 
Famity: The Wrens, Thrashers, etc. 
Length : 7.00-8.50. 
Adults in Summer: Entire plumage uniform slate-gray, more brownish 
on head and neck; bill black. 
Adults in Winter : Similar, with feathers of wings and under parts tipped 
with white. 
Young : Plumage similar to that of adults in winter, but under parts 
more or less mixed with white and tinged with rusty. 
Geographical Distribution: Mountainous districts of Western North 
America, north to Alaska, south to Costa Rica. 
California Breeding Range: Along mountain streams throughout the 
State. 
Breeding Season : May to June 15. 
Nest : A very bulky, oven-shaped structure ; composed of green mosses ; 
the entrance on one side; lined with fine rootlets ; placed among 
rocks, close to running water or behind a waterfall. 
Eggs: 8 to5; white. Size 1.01 X 0.70. 
“ AmonG all the countless waterfalls in the Sierra 
Nevada, whether of the icy peaks or warm foot-hills, or in 
the profound Yosemitic cations of the middle region, not 
one was found without its Ouzel. No caifion is too cold 
for this little bird, none too lonely, provided it be rich in 
falling water. | 
“During the golden days of Indian summer, after 
most of the snow has been melted, and the mountain 
streams have become feeble,— then the song of the 
Ouzel is at its lowest ebb. But as soon as the winter 
clouds have bloomed and the mountain treasuries are 
once more replenished with snow, the voices of the 
streams and of the Ouzels increase in strength and 
