American Dipper 475 
Description.—Adult—General colour throughout pale slaty-grey, 
faintly tinged with brown on the head and neck, which, according to 
Drew, is slightly bronzed and metallic in spring ; below slightly paler 
than above ; iris brown, bill black, legs horny brown. Length 6-75 ; 
wing 3-75; tail 2-0; culmen -70; tarsus 1-20. 
The sexes are alike ; in autumn the feathers of the under-parts and 
most of the wings are very narrowly margined with white, and the 
bill is pale horny brown. Young birds are still more noticeably mottled 
with white below; the throat mainly, sometimes entirely white. 
Distribution.—The Rocky Mountains in their widest sense, from 
Alaska to western Texas and southern California, including the Black 
Hills of Dakota. A resident throughout its range. 
In Colorado the Dipper is generally to be found throughout the 
mountainous western half of the State wherever suitable conditions 
exist. It ranges from the foothills at about 5,000 feet to timber line, 
11,500 feet, and though generally found at slightly lower elevations 
in winter, this is by no means invariably the case. It has been 
observed by Gilmore (Cooke) at the head waters of Clear Creek, 
10,500 feet, on December 15th, and about timber line at Berthoud Pass, 
11,500 feet, on October 3rd. On the other hand, in summer it has 
been found nesting at various elevations from 5,000 to 11,000 feet, so 
that it can hardly be said to be a regular vertical migrant. 
It has been recorded from most of the mountainous parts of the 
state from Estes Park (Pearce & Kellogg) to the Wet Mountains 
(Lowe), and on the western slopes from Glenwood Springs (Cooke) 
and Mesa co. (Rockwell) to La Plata co. (Gilman). 
Habits.-The remarkable aquatic habits of the Dipper 
render it quite unique among the Passerine birds. This 
and its curious nesting ways have caused a number of 
observers to pay special attention to it, as is shown by 
the long list of Colorado records. The notes of Dennis 
Gale, which, through the kindness of the authorities of 
the University of Colorado at Boulder, I have been able 
to make use of, are full of observations on the Dipper, 
and the following account is largely based on these. 
The Dipper, sometimes called the Water-Ouzel, and 
locally in Colorado often known as the Water-Turkey, 
is found only along the rushing mountain streams, which 
it seldom leaves, and which it follows up, skimming 
