CBAPTER iri.-DIPPERS 



Fam. CmCJABJE 



Ghabs. — Wing of 10 primaries, the 1st of which is spurious, 

 and, liiie the others, falcate ; wing as a whole short, stiff, 

 rounded, and concavo-convex, something lilie that of a Grebe, 

 or gallinaceous bird. Tail still shorter than the wing, soft, 

 square, of 12 broad, rounded feathers, almost hidden by the 

 coverts, both sets of which reach nearly or quite to the end, the 

 under coverts being especially long and full. Tarsi booted, 

 about as long as the middle toe and claw. Lateral toes equal 

 in length. Claws all strongly curved. Bill shorter than the 

 head, slender, attenuate, and compressed throughout, higher 

 than broad at the nostrils, about straight, but seeming to be 

 slightly recurved, owing to a sort of upward tilting of the supe- 

 rior mandible ; culinen at first slightly concave, then convex ; 

 commissure nearly straight, but slightly sinuous, to correspond 

 with the outline of the culmen, notched near the end ; gonys 

 convex. Nostrils linear, opening beneath a large scale partly 

 covered with feathers. No rictal vibrissse, nor any trace of 

 bristles or bristle-tipped feathers about the nostrils. Plumage 

 soft, lustreless, remarkably full and compact, waterproof. Body 

 stout, thick-set. Habits aquatic. 



This is a small but well defined group, in which the general 

 characters shared by the Turdidm, Saxicolidte and Sylviidce are 

 modified to a degree, in adaptation to the singular aquatic life 

 the species lead. As generally understood, it consists of a 

 single genus, Cinclus, to which a second, found in Asia, is some- 

 times added. These birds frequent clear mountain streams of 

 ' various parts of the world, chiefly, however, of the Northern 

 Hemisphere. It would scarcely be incorrect to say that they 

 inhabit these streams; for a considerable part of their time 

 is actually spent in the water — not merely on or near it — in 

 gleaning for food beneath the surface. It is marvelous what 

 a little change of structure fits them for such an anomalous 

 mode of life — one wholly exceptional in the order to which they 



