DIPPER. 11 



This interesting bird was not obtained by Lieutenant Warren'is Expe- 

 dition, and tlie fine suite above recorded represent about its easternmost 

 extension as far as known. Tlie conditions of its existence appear to be 

 only met in clear streams. This restricts it practically to mountainons 

 regions, where little or no alluvium is suspended in the water. The 

 aquatic habits of birds of this family are unique among the Oscines ; 

 their general economy — ability to progress under water and procure 

 food with the aid of the wings, by a sort of subaquatic flying and 

 scrambling — is well known, and the perfect adaptation of form and plum- 

 age requires no comment. Their food consists of aquatic insects of all 

 sorts. The nidification has only recently been elucidated. One of the 

 most perfect and beautiful samples of bird- architecture I ever saw was 

 a nest of this species Dr. Haydeu showed me after one of his late trips. 

 It is an elegant ball of soft green moss, as large as a man's head, 

 roofed over, with a small round hole in one side. Dr. Cooper speaks of 

 a similar structure : "It was built under the shelving roots of an immense 

 arhor-mtcB tree that had floated over and rested, in a slanting position, 

 against a mill-dam. The floor was made of small twigs, and bare ; the 

 sides and roof arching over it like an oven, and formed of moss project- 

 ing above so as to shelter the opening. This was large enough to admit 

 the hand, and the inside was very capacious. It contained half fledged 

 j'oung [July 5]. The old birds were familiar and fearless, being accus- 

 tomed to the noise of the mill, and the society of the men, who were 

 much interested by their curious habits. They had already raised a 

 brood in the same nest that summer." The nest appears to be variously 

 situated, but always in a nook or crevice near the water. 



Mr. Merriam's report, above cited, contains an account of another nest, 

 which was discovered by the artist of the expedition, Mr. W. H. Holmes, 

 about half a mile from Mystic Lake, Montana : " The bird was observed 

 to fly directly through the falling water, disappearing from view. Sus- 

 pecting that a nest must be there, we returned the following day, when, 

 with the assistance of Mr. Holmes, I secured the nest, containing three 

 young, and shortly after shot both the old birds. The nest was made of 

 moss, measuring nearly a foot in diameter and six inches in depth. It 

 was built upon the edge of a narrow shelf of rock, and so near the fall 

 that the outside was constantly wet with spray, while the interior was 

 dry and warm. The birds entered it by a small lateral opening in the 

 lower half of the nest, the top being built up against a projecting rock." 

 — { W. B. Piatt.) 



Other extracts from the observations of naturalists will illustrate the 

 natural history of the species. Dr. George Suckley writes : " One curi- 

 ous fact I noticed regarding this bird is, that I frequently saw it singly 

 or in pairs., but never more than two together. In fact, they seem to pre- 

 fer solitude, and eschew all sociable communion or the slightest attempt 

 at gregarious life, except the indispensable union of a pair for the pur- 

 pose of procreation. I never saw this bird on or near still water. They 

 prefer and delight in wild mountain-streams, where, among cascades, 

 eddies, and swift currents, they lead their curious lives." Mr. George 

 Gibbs speaks of the Dipper as common on Salmon Eiver, a rapid, brawling 

 stream, and continues : "As I sat at my cradle on the bank, a pair of 

 them * * * used to play in the water near me, sometimes alighting at the 

 head of a rapid, allowing themselves to be swept under, and then rising 

 below. They dive with great celerity, and at times beat the water with 

 their wings, throwing the spray over themselves. Theii' whistle was 

 sweet and rather sad, but they seemed very happy and busy notwith- 

 standing, and in nowise afraid of the harsh rattle of the miner's cradle." 

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