6002 



Dublin NaturaUHistory Society. 



bird (especially in the breeding season) the birds may be seen at times leaping right 

 out of the water in their gambols. That the bird actually does possess the power of 

 motion under water, the following notes on a wounded bird, made on the spot, abun- 

 dantly prove. 



November 29, 1850. — Bohernabreena. Wounded a water ouzel, which, as I 

 have observed them all to do, immediately made for shore. On my going to seize him 

 he darted into the water, running slap in ; waded in after him ; under water he looks 

 quite glossy, but does not seem increased in bulk, the glossiness probably arising from 

 the oiled state of the plumage, or else from its peculiar texture. When I first got up 

 with the bird he was perfectly stationary at the bottom, not using any exertion to re- 

 main there (this remark applies to two other birds wounded later in the day, which 

 also took to the water). The bird next got under a big stone, and when I poked him 

 out on one side he ran to the other : after the lapse of a minute or so he put his head 

 up out of the water to breathe, always keeping the stone between him and me, and 

 when I tried to catch him he would dodge under water again, and come up on the 

 other side. Finding that I was still chasing him he took to the stream, and went un- 

 der water faster than I could follow him ; he seemed to move now altogether by means 

 of his feet, his wings hanging down behind his tail, though his motions were so quick 

 that it was difficult to be positive as to the latter part of this observation. At times 

 he swam in mid-water, using his wings, crossing the current several times, and seeming 

 but little incommoded by it. All at once he turned over on his back, still possessing 

 the power of continuing under water; struggling to regain his original position, he 

 spun round and round, so that it appeared as though the wounded wing had suddenly 

 failed him, and thus prevented his preserving a due equilibrium in the water. At 

 length he came to the top, when he immediately righted and swam as at other times: 

 every time I tried to lay hold of him he again ducked and dived down to the bottom, 

 at first all right, and then the tumbling began again. When captured, at length, I 

 found him merely winged.' I was enabled to confirm these observations several times 

 that day, as I obtained seven specimens, five of which necessitated a watery chase be- 

 fore I succeeded in catching them, and one got clear off. I ought to explain such 

 seeming needless cruelty in shooting so many of these harmless birds, but the speci- 

 mens were required for a series of dissections at that time in hand. From these 

 observations it would appear that both feet and wings are used in progression, the 

 latter in mid-stream (when the bird almost looked as if it were flying), the wings 

 doubtless being also of essential use in preserving a proper balance in the water, pro- 

 bably acting like the pectoral fins of a fish. The bird's progression along the bottom 

 was certainly by means of its feet alone. 



" Like many water animals the sensation in this bird appears blunted ; at least 

 two of those I winged and afterwards captured sat coolly looking at me, as though 

 uninjured, without leaving their position, perking and jerking their tails as unron- 

 cernedly as possible, so that had I not had some confidence in my gun I should cer- 

 tainly have taken a second shot at them. The stomachs of all those T examined 

 contained only insect remains. This bird is extremely common in our mountain 

 glens: I have counted as many as ten broods in Saggart Slade, and, although called 

 an unsocial bird, it is to be always found in pairs. These certainly keep apart, but 

 still many pairs will be met in favourable localities in a very limited area. They keep 

 nearly altogether to the glens. I saw the bird but once below Rathfarnhara bridge, in 

 the Dodder ; this was at dark. 



