500 DAN BEARD'S ANIMAL BOOK 



AN ORDINARY APPEARING BIRD, 



with a rather short tail, but there are no strongly 

 marked peculiarities about its appearance. Its 

 plumage is as modest as that of a catbird, and very 

 much the same color. Its body is shaped very 

 much like our wood-thrush, and near the same size, 

 but notwithstanding its modest apparel and the 

 fact that it neither has the long legs of a crane 

 nor the abnormally developed beak of a parrot, 

 or any other strikingly peculiar feature, this bird 

 is sure to attract your attention immediately be- 

 cause 



IT DOES SUCH UNEXPECTED THINGS. 



You may be fishing in a trout brook and reach a point 

 where the waters come rushing over the boulders 

 and leaping down precipitious falls, when all of a 

 sudden a little bird makes its appearance. If you 

 are not a bird enthusiast you will pay no attention 

 to the little fellow until you see it dive right into 

 the rapids and disappear under the water, then you 

 will sit up and take notice. 



On Glacier Creek, McDonald's Lake, Montana, 

 I studied the water-ouzels and watched them as 

 they kept up a peculiar bobbing motion, not teeter- 

 ing, but bobbing up and down, and I noticed that 

 they never get wet; the water has no effect upon 

 their plumage, but rolls off as soon as they emerge 

 from it. Mr. Vreeland claimed that he saw them 

 use their wings while under water, but I did not. 



