GEOLOGICAL SURV'EY OF THE TERRITORIES. 



671 



of Salt Lake ; it was placed at the foot of a sage-brush ; was built of 

 sticks, lined with tibrous roots ; it was unusually large for the size of 

 the bird, (measuring over eight inches in diameter,) and contained four 

 fresh eggs. 



Family 2. — CiNCLiD^, the Dippers. 

 C Indus mexicanus, Swains., (water-ouzel:) 



Rah. — Rocky Mountains 'from British America to Mexico. 



The American dipper, or water-ouzel, is a rare bird in the district 

 through which we passed, being met with only at Ogden CaQon, Mystic 

 Lake, aud in a little cahon ei'st of the Teton Range, near Jackson's Lake. 

 It is truly a wonderful bird, being able not only to walk, but also to fly, 

 into the water. During the latter })art of September, when the snow was 

 about an inch deep and was still falling, I took my gun and entered one 

 of the canons a few miles north of Jackson's Lake, in the hope of meet- 

 ing some rare birds. I had not gone far, when, to my great delight, I 

 saw a pair of water-ouzels on a rock in the middle of a rapid stream 

 which flowed out of the caiion. To ujy great surprise one of these birds 

 dove directly into the rapids, and in a few moments returned with a 

 worm in its mouth. I shot one of the birds, which, to my great chagrin, 

 fell into the water and was carried under by the curreut, aud 1 was un- 

 able to secure it. 



[The nest of the water-ouzel {Cinclus mexicanus) was discovered by 

 our artist, Mr. W. H. Holmes, about half a mile from IMystic Lake, 

 Montana Territory, wiiile he was sketching a beautiful little fall made 

 by one of the mountain streams. The bird was observed to fly directly 

 through the falling water, disappeailng from view. Suspecting that a 

 nest must be there, we returned the following day, when, with the assist- 

 ance of Mr. Holmes, I secured the nest, containing three young, aud 

 shortly after shot both the old birds. The nest was made of moss, 

 measuring nearly a foot m diameter and six inches in depth. It was 

 built upon the edge of a narrow shelf of rock, and so near the fall that 

 the outside was constantly wet with spray, while the interior was <lry 

 and warm. The birds entered it by a small lateral opening in the lower 

 half of the nest, the top being built up against a projecting rock. — W. 

 B. Platt.] 



Family 3. — Saxicolid^, the Saxicolas. 

 Sialia arcfica., Sw., (Rocky Mountain bine-bird:) 



Hab. — High dry central plains; Upper Missouri to Rocky Mountain 

 Range and south to Mexico. Rare on the coast of California. 



