THE DIPPER. 



Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein; Le Merle d'Eau, Buffon ; Der Wasser- 

 schwatzer, Bechstein. 



This bird resembles the starling in size, but the head is 

 more pointed, and the body, in general, larger, while the 

 wings and tail are shorter, the tail being only one inch and a 

 ijnarter long, and the ends of the wings cover a fourth part of 

 it ; the beak is three quarters of an inch long, narrow, flattish 

 at the sides, raised in the middle, sharp and black ; the narrow 

 nostrils are almost entirely closed by a membrane ; the iris is 

 light brown ; the shanks are an inch high, and of a dark 

 brown, and have the four toes united together ; the head and 

 upper part of the neck are of a dusky rust brown ; the rest of 

 the upper part of the body is black, with an ashy gray tint ; 

 the quill-feathers and tail are blackish ; the neck to half-way 

 down the breast is pure white ; the rest of the breast is deep 

 maroon, which shades into the black of the belly. 



In the female the head and upper part of the neck are 

 lighter, and the white of the breast is not so pure as in the male. 



Habitation. — When wild it frequents by preference the banks of rivei-« 

 and streams in mount.iinous countries, and remains all the year near those 

 wliose waters flow from springs which never freeze. 



