7" 



THE WINGS. 



Head of the Crested Grelxj. 



ment like a tippet and ears, weighs two pounds and a half, or 

 nearly forty times the weight of a Swift, and yet its spread 



of wing is only thirty inches, ba- 

 ing six inches less than twice the 

 spread of the Swift's wing. Some- 

 times, by carefully watching these 

 birds in clear water, opportunities 

 occur of observing their progress 

 beneath the surface, when they 

 may be seen napping with their 

 short wings, as if flying, thus ac- 

 quiring a much greater speed than they could by the use of 

 their webbed feet alone. 



There is one bird, however, the Water Ousel, in shape and 

 wings very similar to the Wren, and as large as a Song Thrush, 



which also dives ; but as it 

 does not pursue fish, living 

 on spawn, or such sort of food 

 as may be collected with- 

 out effort, the Diver's form 

 of wing is not necessary, 

 and accordingly the only 

 use of its wing under water 

 is by flapping or jerking it 

 upwards, to prevent its 

 rising ; for as, like all other 

 birds, it is much lighter 

 than water, it must of 

 course use some power to keep itself beneath the surface, and 

 this it does by means of its wings. These birds are chiefly 

 found in wild parts of the country, abounding in streams 

 rushing over rocky beds. There they may be seen perched upon 

 a stone on the edge or middle of the water, from whence they 

 wade beyond their depth and continue their course along the 

 bottom, where they may be observed struggling to preserve a 

 footing and prevent themselves from rising by a strange tum- 

 bling sort of motion of their bodies, accompanied by quiver- 



Water Ousel or Dipper. 



