iSSs-] Batchelder, Winter Notes from Netv Mexico. 2 3CJ 



played the prominent part. The Ouzels seem to show excellent 

 taste in the choice of their surroundings. In following up the 

 stream if you come to a place where it splashes down over the 

 rocks in a low fall into a clear, broad pool from whose depths 

 a few rocks here and there barely lift their heads above the sur- 

 face, keep your eyes open, you may chance to see a Dipper ; it 

 is such a spot as this they fancy, and about the foot of the fall 

 or on one of the wet rocks that rise out of the pool is where to 

 look for him. The charm of the bird is doubtless heightened by 

 its frequenting such picturesque places, but I fear that it is 

 attracted to them chiefly by the abundant food that can be 

 gleaned about the rocks at the foot of the falls, luckless insects 

 carried down by the force of the current, or any other tidbits 

 the stream may furnish. They are very tame, unsuspicious 

 birds, and hardly seem to be aware when one is watching them. 

 One morning following down the stream past a point where it 

 is bordered by some low sandstone cliffs, I heard a loud note 

 somewhat like the cry of a Kingfisher. Looking around I saw 

 an Ouzel, and restraining my first impulse to shoot it, I seated 

 myself on a rock some twenty yards away and watched its 

 actions. There was a slight fall in the stream and below it a 

 deep pool, across which a small log had lodged. On this log 

 sat the Dipper. On each side the rapids above the pool were 

 covered by several inches of loose spongy ice that had formed 

 during the night and had not yet yielded to the sun's rays, and 

 only the middle of the stream was free from it. On the pool 

 there was some floating ice, the remains of a skim formed in the 

 night, and even the log the bird was on was partly coated with 

 it. The Ouzel stood with its legs a little bent, its body being 

 nearly horizontal, facing across the log, and apparently watch- 

 ing the water for anything eatable that might come within reach. 

 Meanwhile it repeatedly lowered and raised its body, apparently 

 merely by bending its legs, keeping the position of the body the 

 same all the time, i. e. , not tipping it forward or back. The 

 dipping was done rapidly with an interval between each dip. 

 I timed it by my watch, and found the motion was repeated 

 about forty times a minute. Presently it turned around, jumped 

 into the water, and swam quickly to the foot of the rapids, sit- 

 ting on the water much like a Grebe. It poked about the 

 rapids, walking on the stones, and when necessary swimming 



