The American Dipper 
wing-feathers and, occasionally, tail-feathers extensively white. Bill yellow. Length 
about 178 (7.00); wing 90 (3.54); tail 50 (1.97); bill 17.3 (.68); tarsus 28.5 (1.12). 
Recognition Marks. —Sparrow size but chunky , giving impression of a “better” 
bird. Slaty coloration and water-haunting habits distinctive. 
Nesting. — Nest: A large ball of green moss lined with fine grasses or dead 
leaves, and with entrance on side; lodged among rocks, fallen timber, roots, etc., near 
water. Eggs: 4 or 5; pure white. Av. size 1.02 x .70 (25.9 x 17.8). Season: April- 
June; one or two broods. 
General Range. —The mountains of western North America from the northern 
boundary of Mexico and northern Lower California to northern Alaska. Resident. 
Distribution in California. —Common resident along all permanent streams 
in the timbered mountains. Found on both slopes of the Sierra Nevada in the Tran¬ 
sition and Boreal zones, on the Warners, San Jacintos, San Bernardinos, etc. Breeds 
at lower levels in all the coast ranges, save the inner arid members, and from Ventura 
north in numbers approximately increasing with humidity. Retires to somewhat 
lower levels in winter, especially' in the Sierras. 
Authorities.—Audubon ( Cinclus americanus), Synopsis Birds N. Am., 1839, 
p. 86 (n. Calif.); Cones, Birds of the Northwest, 1874, p. to; ibid., Birds Col. Val., 1878, 
p. 84 (sy'n., hist., habits, etc .)■ Shufeldt, Bull. Nutt. Orn. Club, vol. vii., 1882, p. 213, fig. 
(osteology'); Muir, John, The Mountains of California, 1894, p. 276; Stejneger, Smithson. 
Misc. Coll. (Quart. Issue), vol. xlvii., 1905, p. 421 (monogr.; distr. of the genus Cinclus)\ 
Bryant, H. C., and Bryant, Amy M., Condor, vol. xvii., 1915, p. 98 (desc. nest; habits 
and actions of adults and young). 
“ADVANCING and prancing and glancing and dancing, 
And dashing and flashing and splashing and clashing; 
A nd so never ending, but always descending, 
Sounds and motions forever and ever are blending, 
All at once and all o'er, with a mighty uproar; 
And this way the Water comes down at Lodore." 
But the scene of aqueous confusion was incomplete unless a leaden 
shape emerged from the spray, took station on a jutting rock, and pro¬ 
ceeded to rub out certain gruff notes of greeting, jigic, jigic, jigic. These 
notes manage somehow to dominate or to pierce the roar of the cataract, 
and they symbolize henceforth the turbulence of all the mountain torrents 
of the West. 
The Water Ouzel bobs most absurdly as he repeats his inquiry after 
your health. But you would far rather know of his, for he has just 
come out of the icy bath, and as he sidles down the rock, tittering ex¬ 
pectantly, you judge he is contemplating another one. Yes; without 
more ado the bird wades into the stream, where the current is so swift 
you are sure it would sweep a man off his feet. He disappears beneath 
its surface and you shudder at the possibilities; but after a half minute 
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