538 NORTH AMERICAN BIRDS. 



FAMILY CINCLID^E. THE DIPPERS. (Page 323.) 



Genera. 

 (Characters same as those given for the Family) Cinclus. (Page 538.) 



GENUS CINCLUS BECHSTEIN. (Page 538, pi. CXIX., fig. 5.) 



Species. 



COMMON CHARACTERS (of North American species). Color plain grayish, the 

 head sometimes more brownish ; young and winter specimens with larger feathers 

 of wings and those of posterior lower parts bordered with whitish, the lower parts 

 decidedly whitish or much suffused with white in young. 



a 1 . Adult in summer : Uniform slate-grayish, the head and neck more brownish 

 (sometimes decidedly brown) ; bill entirely black. Winter plumage : Similar, 

 but tertials, greater wing-coverts, and feathers of lower parts bordered ter- 

 minally with whitish ; lower mandible light-colored on basal portion. Young : 

 Similar to winter plumage, but lower parts more or less mixed with white, 

 and tinged posteriorly with rusty. Length 7.00-8.50, wing 3.40-3.81, tail 

 1.90-2.12, culmen .60-.70, tarsus 1.00-1.20. Nest built within a very bulky 

 oven-shaped structure composed of closely compacted green mosses, the en- 

 trance on one side, the nest proper embedded in the floor of the " house," and 

 composed of fine rootlets, etc. ; the nest built among rocks near running 

 water, often behind a cascade. Eggs 3-5, 1.02 X -70, plain pure white. Hab. 

 Mountainous districts of western North America, north to Alaska (Yukon 

 Valley, where resident), south to Guatemala. 



701. C. mexicanus SWAINS. American Dipper. 



a*. Adult : Above bluish gray, or plumbeous, slightly darker on head ; beneath ash- 

 gray, lighter anteriorly, more plumbeous on sides. Young : Chin, throat, 

 and chest white ; other lower parts grayish white, tinged with plumbeous 

 laterally ; wing-coverts tipped with grayish white, the quills and secondaries 

 bordered terminally with pure white. Wing 3.50-3.65, tail about 2.00, cul- 

 men .70-.72, tarsus 1.28-1.30. Hab. Mountains of Costa Eica and Yeragua. 



C. ardesiacus SALV. Costa Rican Dipper. 1 



FAMILY TROGLODYTID^. THE WRENS, THRASHERS, ETC. 



(Page 322.) 

 Genera. 



a 1 . Rictal bristles well developed ; inner toe entirely free at base from middle toe ; 



wing 3.50, or more. (Subfamily Mimince.} 

 b l . Tail shorter than wing, nearly even Oroscoptes. (Page 541.) 



1 Cinclus ardesiacus SALV., Ibis, 1867, 121, pi. 2. 



