304 AMERICAN DIPPER. 



rest dusky. The feet pale flesh-colour, and the claws yellowish-grey, 

 tinged with brown. The general colour of the upper parts is blackish- 

 grey or deep bluish-grey ; the head and hind neck slightly tinged with 

 brown ; the feathers of the wings and tail dusky ; the secondaries and 

 their coverts narrowly margined with greyish- white, as are the tail- 

 feathers in a slight degree. The lower parts are of a lighter tint, the 

 feathers margined with whitish, and the throat with a slight tinge of 

 brown. There is a white spot on the upper eyelid as in the adult. 



Length to end of tail Sjj^ inches ; bill along the ridge j^, along the 

 edge of lower mandible ^ ; wing from flexure 3{§ ; tail 2f^ ; tarsus 

 ^^; hind toe f'a, its claw j^^ ; middle toe '^"|, its claw 1%. 



On comparing the above description and the figure with the descrip- 

 tion of the immature bird by Dr Richardson, it will be seen that the 

 diff'erences are extremely slight. 



The individual represented by Fig. 2, and which is from the Colum- 

 bia River, where it was shot by Dr Townsend, on the 8th October 1835, 

 is precisely similar to that already described, only it has the bill more 

 slender, the tarsi much shorter and less robust, and the dimensions in 

 general much less. It was a male bird, probably very young, and as 

 its markings and colom-s are the same as those of Fig. 1, which was a 

 female, proves that the young of both sexes are alike as to colour in 

 their first plumage. 



Length to end of tail 6x% inches ; bill along the ridge j^^ ; wing from 

 flexure 3^ ; tail 1{1 ; tarsus 1 ; hind toe ^|, its claw j% ; middle toe 

 II, its claw i|. 



The claws of these two individuals are longer and more pointed 

 than those of the adult specimens described, and their bills have not 

 been worn at the point : — additional proofs of their being young birds. 



i' 



