A BIRD MISCELLANY 173 



his wings with one vigorous shake, and rises abruptly 

 into the air as if pushed up from beneath, comes back 

 to his perch, sings a few minutes, and goes out to dive 

 again ; thus coming and going, singing and diving, at 

 the same place for hours." 



The depths to which the cinclid dives for the food 

 on the bottom is often from fifteen to twenty feet. 

 When he selects a river instead of a lake for his winter 

 bathing, its waters, like those of the shallower streams, 

 may also contain a large quantity of sludge, thus 

 rendering them opaque even to the sharp little eyes of 

 the dipper. Then what does he do ? He has a very 

 natural and cunning way of solving this problem ; he 

 simply seeks a deep portion of the river and dives 

 through the turbid water to the clear water beneath, 

 where he can plainly see the " goodies " on the bottom. 



It must not be thought that this little bird is mute 

 amid all the watery tumult of his mountain home, for 

 he is a rare vocalist, his song mingling with the ripple 

 and gurgle and roar of the streams that he haunts. 

 Nor does he sing only in the springtime, but all the 

 year round, on stormy days as well as fair. During 

 Indian summer, when the streams are small, and silence 

 broods over many a mountain solitude, the song of the 

 ousel falls to its lowest ebb; but when winter comes 

 and the streams are converted into rolling torrents, he 

 resumes his vocal efforts, which reach their height in 



