500 AMERICAN DIPPER. 
hypna, firmly felted, so as to form a mass not easily torn asunder, espe- 
cially in its lower part. This portion may be considered as forming a 
case for the nest properly so called, and in this respect resembles the 
mud case of the swallows. The nest itself is hemispherical, five anda 
half inches in diameter, composed of stems and leaves of grasses, and 
very copiously lined with beech-leaves. I have examined several other 
nests, which were similarly constructed, and all lined with beech- 
leaves, one having a few of ivy, and another one or two of the plane, 
intermixed. Monrtacu describes the nest as “very large, formed of 
moss and water plants externally, and lined with dry oak leaves ; and 
others have stated that the lining is of leaves of various trees, which 
may depend upon the locality. The eggs, five or six in number, are 
of aregular oval form, rather pointed, pure white, varying from eleven- 
twelfths to an inch and one-twelfth in length, and averaging nine- 
twelfths in their greatest breadth. They are somewhat smaller than 
those of the Song Thrush. 
The genus Cinclus may be considered as placed on the limits of the 
families of Turdine and Myrmotherine, being in fact more allied to 
Turdus than to Pitta, although through Chamewza perhaps more obvi- 
ously related to the latter. ‘fhe digestive organs of the Common Dip- 
per are entirely analogous to those of the Thrushes and allied genera, 
but bear no resemblance to those of the piscivorous birds, the cesopha- 
gus being narrow, and the stomach a true gizzard. The bird, being 
destined to feed upon aquatic insects and mollusca, which adhere to 
the stones under the water, is fitted for making its way to the bottom 
at small depths, and maintaining itself there for a short time, a minute 
or more; in conformity with which design its plumage is rather short 
and dense, its tail abbreviated, its wings short, broad, and strong, its 
bill unencumbered by bristles, and of the proper form for seizing small 
objects, as well as for detaching them from stones. Having its feet 
constructed like those of the Thrushes, but proportionally stronger, 
the Dipper thus forms a connecting link between the slender-billed 
land birds and the diving palmipedes, as the Kingfisher seems to unite 
them with the plunging birds of the same order.” 
The only original observations respecting the habits of the Ameri- 
can Dipper that I have to present here are the following, with which 
I have been favoured by Dr Townsenp :—“ This bird inhabits the 
clear mountain streams in the vicinity of the Columbia River. When 
Pa a eo 
