————— ee 
ee 
AMERICAN DIPPER. 501 
observed it was swimming among the rapids, occasionally flying for 
short distances over the surface of the water, and then diving into it, 
and reappearing after a long interval. Sometimes it will alight along 
the margin, and jerk its tail upwards like a Wren. I did not hear it 
utter any note. The stomach was found to contain fragments of fresh- 
water snails. I observed that this bird did not alight on the surface 
of the water, but dived immediately from the wing.” 
Cinctus Patxastt, Ch. Bonaparte, Amer. Ornith. vol. iii. p. 1, pl. 16, fig. 1. 
Cincius Americants, Swains. and Richards. Fauna Bor.-Amer. vol. u. p. 173. 
Brack WateER-OvsEL, or Dierer, Nuttall, Manual, vol. ii. p. 358. 
Adult Male. Plate CCCLXX. Fig. 1. 
Bill rather short, slender, slightly ascending, much compressed to- 
ward the end; upper mandible with its dorsal line slightly arched, the 
ridge rounded, the sides convex, the edges sharp and inflected, with 
an obscure notch close to the narrow slightly deflected tip ; lower man- 
dible slightly bent upwards, the angle medial and very narrow, the 
dorsal line ascending and slightly convex, the tip narrow and rather 
acute, the gape-line straight. Nostrils linear, direct, in the lower and 
fore part of the nasal membrane which is covered with very short fea- 
thers. Eyes rather small; eyelids densely feathered. 
The general form is short, full, and compact ; the head oblong, 
compressed, rather small; the neck rather short; the body rather 
deeper than broad. Legs strong, of ordinary length; tarsus com- 
pressed, covered anteriorly with a long undivided plate and four infe- 
rior scutella, posteriorly with two long plates meeting at a very acute 
angle. Toes rather large and strong; the first, second, and fourth, 
nearly equal in length, but the first much stronger, the third much 
longer; the third and fourth united as far as the second joint of the 
latter. Claws rather long, arched, much compressed, that of the hind 
toe considerably larger. 
Plumage very soft and blended. the feathers oblong and rounded ; 
those about the base of the bill very short and velvety. No bristles at 
the base of the bill. Wings rather short, broad, convex, and rounded ; 
the first quill very short and narrow, being about a third of the length 
of the second, which is shorter than the fourth, the third longest, and 
with the next three slightly cut out on the outer web towards the end ; 
