DIPPERS: Family Cinclidae [ 45 1 ] 



ward over that given in the 1931 A. O. U. Check-List, but these birds 

 are apparently established permanently in the Rogue River Valley. The 

 only published reference to this species in Oregon is that of our notes by 

 Gabrielson (1931) in The Birds of the Rogue River Valley, Oregon. We have 

 no breeding records. 



Dippers: Family Cinclidae 



Dipper: 



Cinclus mexicanus untcolor Bonaparte 



DESCRIPTION. "Bill shorter than head, slender, and compressed; wing short, stiff, 

 rounded, with ten primaries, the first spurious; tail shorter than wing, soft, of twelve 

 broad rounded feathers almost hidden by coverts; tarsus without scales; claws 

 strongly curved. Adults in summer: whole body nearly uniform slate gray, a trifle 

 lighter below; head and neck faintly tinged with brown. Adults in winter: similar, 

 but feathers of wings and under parts lightly tipped with white. Young: similar to 

 winter plumage, but under parts more or less mixed with white and tinged with 

 rusty. Length: 7.00-8.50, wing 3.40-3.81, tail 1.90-2..!!, bill .60-. 70." (Bailey) 

 Nest: An oven-shaped structure of green moss, opening on the side, and placed among 

 rocks or behind waterfalls (Plate 77, B). Eggs: 3 to 5, white. 



DISTRIBUTION. General: Breeds from northwestern Alaska, British Columbia, and 

 western Alberta south to southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico. Winters 

 throughout its breeding range. In Oregon: Common permanent resident of Blue 

 and Warner Mountains and territory from Cascades west to Pacific. 



THE DIPPER, or Water Ouzel, a cheerful mountain songster, is a common 

 sight bobbing up and down on a rock or slipping into the water to 

 forage for insects and small aquatic life beneath the waters of our rushing 

 mountain streams (Plate 5, 5). Since Newberry (1857) first listed it for 

 the State from the Cascade Mountains many writers have commented on 

 the curious combination of songster and fisherman in one small dull- 

 colored bird. It is a permanent resident of the Blue and Warner Moun- 

 tains and of the territory from the Cascades west to the Pacific. It winters 

 on streams with tumbling waters that never freeze, seemingly not mind- 

 ing at all the chilly temperature. 



The nest is often built over the water on a moss-covered bank or behind 

 a waterfall in a convenient niche. Nesting records are numerous, and 

 dates extend from March 30, 192.5, Prill's record (ms.) of a set of four 

 eggs at Scio, to May 31, Jewett's note of a nest on the western base of 

 Mount Hood. Jewett found a nest on April 2.2. at Traill, Jackson County, 

 at which the parents were feeding young; and Gabrielson discovered one, 

 May 8, 192.9, on the moss-covered bank of Eagle Creek, Clackamas 

 County, that contained two eggs, now in the Braly collection. 



Trout fishermen persist in repeating their belief that these small under- 

 water acrobats are terrifically destructive to young trout. Undoubtedly 



