THE WRENS 1683 



generally beneath a bridge, or overhanging rock. The nest is constructed of fine 

 stems of grass, lined with dead leaves, and inclosed in a beautifully formed case of 

 green moss; the eggs being pure white. Although the dipper delights in frosty 

 weather, its song may be heard at any season of the year. Whether the loosened 

 ice be floating down the river, or the flowering of the pilewort in the hedgeside 

 afford an omen that the present is the time to pair, the dipper is ever a perfect em- 

 bodiment of grace, combined with indomitable energy. Retaining a spirit unsoured 

 and unchafed by the petty disappointments of life, nothing ever seems to come amiss 

 to him. When the redwing hops dolefully across the snowdrift, and famishing 

 rooks fall with beak and nail upon weaker birds, the dipper preserves his equanimity 

 intact, and manages to secure an easy competency. The adult has the upper parts 

 slaty gray; the head brown; the chin, throat, and upper breast pure white; and the 

 rest of the lower parts chestnut brown, varying much in intensity. The European 

 species is replaced in the Himalayas by the brown dipper (C. asiaticus), which is 

 found at elevations from one to fourteen thousand feet, according to the season. 

 This dipper lays at very different periods, according to elevation, sometimes nesting 

 as early as December. The nests found by Mr. Hume were large balls of moss, 

 wedged into clefts of moss and fern-covered rocks, the one, half under a little cas- 

 cade, the other about a foot above the water's edge in the side of a rock standing in 

 the midst of a broad, deep stream. The eggs are pure white, similar to those of the 

 European dipper, but smaller. The adult male has the entire plumage chocolate 

 brown, with the edges of the feathers somewhat paler in places. The eyelids are 

 covered with white feathers, and the wings and tail are dark brown. 



THE WRENS 

 Family TROGLODTTID^, 



The wrens are a group of very small birds, showing a considerable variety of 

 form among upward of a hundred representatives. They are characterized by a 

 moderate or slender bill, either straight or slightly curved; the nostrils being nar- 

 row, or broadly oval, and exposed; while the wings are short and generally rounded; 

 and the tail of variable length, often rounded, and frequently carried over the back. 

 These birds are most abundantly represented in South America, but have their 

 typical representatives both in North America and the northern parts of the Old 

 World. Certain forms are also found in the Himalayas and Tibet, while others 

 occur in Patagonia and Northwest America. Among a large number of generic 

 types (nineteen) space admits of our noticing but two. 



True Wrens ^ e common wren an d its congeners have the beak of moderate 

 size, pointed and slightly curved; the wing being very short and 

 rounded, and the tail also comparatively short and rounded. The feet are strong 

 for so small a bird, and the metatarsus is comparatively long. Typically a European 

 bird, the common wren {Troglodytes vulgaris) is represented in the Kurile islands 



