1 682 THE PERCHING BIRDS 



widely-spread genus. Small in build, the numerous species of this large group have 

 the beak of variable size; conical in shape, and provided with rictal bristles; while 

 the wings are long and pointed, the first and second primaries being the longest. 

 The metatarsus is long, and the claws are rather small and much curved. The 

 coloration of the tail feathers is a good clue to any member of this genus, since these 

 are almost invariably blotched with white. Of thirty-five reputed species of this 

 genus of wood warblers, twenty-six have been ascribed to North America, one of 

 the best known of these being the summer yellow bird of the United States, an 

 abundant and familiar denizen of parks and orchards; while another is the lovely 

 orange-breasted Blackburn's warbler, of which Dr. Coues says, "There is nothing 

 to compare with the exquisite hue of this Promethean torch." The black-throated 

 green warbler which annually arrives in the eastern parts of the United States early 

 in May, nesting chiefly in fir woods, and building in the oblique fork of a bough, 

 generally at some distance from the ground, constructing its nest of a variety of 

 materials, such as vegetable fibres and dry stems, lined with finer grass, horse hair, 

 and feathers. The eggs are white in ground color, variegated with purplish spots. 

 The song of the male is plaintive and prolonged, and generally to be heard among 

 the pine trees. As a straggler, this bird has occurred upon the island of Heligo- 

 land. The adult male has the upper parts olive green, yellower on the rump; the 

 forehead and sides of the head bright yellow; the chin, breast, and throat jet black; 

 the abdomen white; the wings and tail dusky; and the wings barred with whitish. 



THE DIPPERS 

 Family ClNCLID^ 



The dippers form a small group apparently allied to the thrushes, but specially 

 adapted to a semi-aquatic life. They possess a narrow, straight bill, slightly bent 

 and notched; a very short and rounded wing; and a short and broad tail; the meta- 

 tarsus being long and smooth, while the feet are furnished with long claws. The 

 sexes are alike; and the young, unlike the adults, are always spotted on the lower 

 surface. The plumage is close and dense, and the body is covered with down. The 

 dippers frequent the beds of clear streams in the northern parts of both hemi- 

 spheres. Three species exist in South America, one of the latter being Schulz's 

 dipper, a dark gray bird, with a pretty rufous throat, but similar in size and shape 

 to the European species. The whole of the twelve known species are included in 

 the genus Cindus. The mountain streams of Europe are all frequented b}' one or 

 other form of the white-breasted dippers, which agree in habits wherever they are 

 found. The busy, bustling dipper is occasionally to be seen sporting upon the sea- 

 shore at the mouth of some fresh-water burn, but we connect it more naturally with 

 the eddying rapids of the salmon river, or the rippling waters of the fellside beck. 

 The common dipper ( Cindus aquaticus} of Western Europe is a very early breeder, 

 building at the end of winter, sometimes in the branches or the roots of a tree, but 



