228 cassell's book of birds. 



these materials being overspread with a layer of leaves. If the mouth of the hole be large it is 

 covered with a kind of mossy lid, resembling that made by the Wren for her little abode, leaving 

 only an entrance passage of very moderate dimensions. When placed among the machinery of a 

 mill, the nest has sometimes required to be two feet long, in order to keep it firmly fixed on its 

 precarious foundation. The eggs, from four to six in number, are of a glossy white, variously 

 shaped, but generally from eight to ten lines long, and eight to eight and a half lines broad. Though 

 the female broods with such diligence and care that she will not even make her escape at the 

 approach of danger, she rarely succeeds in hatching more than two of her brood, the rest of the 

 eggs being no doubt addled by the damp situation of the nest. Whilst engaged in tending their 

 young family, the parents often appear to lay aside their usual timidity, and will permit a stranger 

 to investigate their proceedings without exhibiting any sign of fear. 



THE AMERICAN WATER OUZEL. 



The American Water Ouzel (Cindus Amcricanus) differs from the European species above 

 described by the absence of white on the brownish chin and throat. Nuttall tells us, in his 

 interesting work on American ornithology, that " this bird was first noticed by Pallas in the Crimea, 

 and afterwards by Mr. Bullock in Mexico, from whence it appears, by an exclusively interior route, 

 to penetrate into the wild and remote interior of Canada, as far as the shores of the Athabasca Lake." 



Mr. Townsend says, in speaking of this bird— whose habits are but little known—" The American 

 Dipper inhabits the clear mountain streams in the vicinity of the Columbia. When observed it was 

 swimming along the rapids, occasionally flying for short distances over the surface of the water, and 

 then diving into it, re-appearing after a short interval. Sometimes it alights on the banks of the 

 Ntream, and jerks its tail upwards like a Wren. I did not hear it utter any note. The stomach 

 was found to contain fragments of fresh-water snail-shells. I observed that this bird did not alight 

 on the surface of the water, but dived immediately while on the wing." 



The PITTAS, or PAINTED THRUSHES (Pitta:), constitute a family of birds nearly allied to 

 the preceding, and remarkable for their short but powerful body, moderately long neck, large head, 

 and long wings — in which the fourth and fifth quills exceed the rest in length — that reach to the tips 

 of the very short, straight tail. All have unusually powerful beaks, compressed at the sides, and 

 slightly arched at the culmen, those of some species in particular being so strong as to have 

 occasioned Linnaeus to class them with the Ravens. The foot is slender, the tarsus high, and the 

 outer toes connected with that in the centre as far as the first joint. The plumage is thick and full, 

 and usually glows with the most resplendent colours. Owing to the great variety of hue and 

 difference in the shape of the beak and length of quills observable in the different members of this 

 family, they have been necessarily subdivided, although they all nearly resemble each other in their 

 habits and mode of life, 



THE NURANG. 

 The Nurang of the Hindoos {Pitta Bengalensis) is blueish green upon the back, shoulders, 

 and wing-covers ; the somewhat prolonged upper tail-covers are pale blue, the chin, breast, and 

 throat beneath the ear white ; the under side is entirely brownish yellow, with the exception of a 

 scarlet patch on the lower part of the belly and vent ; a stripe that passes over the eyes is black, as 

 well as a line over the head ; a streak forming the eyebrow is white. The quills are black, tipped 

 with white, the first six primaries being also spotted with white ; the secondaries are edged with 

 blueish green on the outer web ; the tail-feathers are black, tipped with dull blue, and a brilliant 



