BIEDS — TURDIDAE HYDROBATA MEXICANA. 
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description of Audubon, being one of several other species not found in tbe United States by 
any one else. It differs mainly from R. satrapa in having two black bands (not one) on the 
crown anteriorly, separated by a whitish one ; the extreme forehead being black instead of 
white, as in satrapa. The specimen was killed in June, 1812, on the banks of the Schuylkill 
river, in Pennsylvania. 
Sub-Family CINCLINAE. 
HYDROBATA, Vieillot. 
Hydrobata, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816, (Ag.) 
Cinclus, Bechstein, Gemein. Naturg. 1802, (Agassiz. Not of Moehring, 1752.) (Typo Stumus cinclus, h.) 
Ch. — Bill without any bristles at the base; slender, subulate; the mandible bent slightly upward; the culmtm slightly 
concave to near the tip, which is much curved and notched ; the commissural edges of the bill finely nicked. Feet large and 
strong, the toes projecting considerably beyond the tail ; the claws large. Lateral toes equal. Tail very short and even ; not 
two-thirds the wings, which are concave and somewhat falcate. The first primary is more than one-fourth the longest. 
The tomia of this genus are nicked on the terminal half, a character I have only noticed in 
specimens of the robin, and possibly not permanent in the latter. The slightly upward bend of 
the bill, somewhat as in Anthus, renders the culmen concave, and the commissure slightly 
convex. The maxilla at base is nearly as high as the mandible ; the whole bill is much 
compressed and attenuated, The lateral claws barely reach the base of the middle one, which 
is broad ; the inner face extended into a horny lamina, with one or two notches or pectinations 
somewhat as in Caprimulgidae. The stiffened sub-falcate wings are quite remarkable. The 
tail is so short that the upper coverts extend nearly to its tip. 
If the genera of Moehring are to be retained and used in ornithology, there is no reason why 
his Cinclus should not be used for a grallatorial genus, and that of Bechstein be superseded by 
Hydrobata of Vieillot. 
HYDROBATA MEXICANA, Baird. 
American Dipper; Water Ouzel. 
Cinclus pallasii, Bonap. Zool. Jour. II, Jan. 1827, 62.— Ib. Amer. Orn. II, 1828, 173; pi. xvi, f. 1. (not the Asiatic 
pallasii.) 
Cinclus mexicanus, Swainson, Syn. Mex. Birds, in Phil. Mag. I. May, 1827, 368. 
Cinclus amerlcanus, Sw. & Rich. F. Bor. Am. II, 1831, 173.— Nuttall, Man. II, 1834, 569.— Aud. Orn. Biog. IV, 
1838,493: V, 1839,303; pi. 370, 435.— Ib. Synopsis, 1839, 86.— Ib. Birds Amer. II, 1841, 
182 ; pi. 137 — Newberry, Zool. Cal. & Or. Route 80 ; Rep. P. R. R. Surv. VI, iv, 1857. 
Cinclus unicolor, Bonap. List, 1838. 
Cinclus mortoni, Townsend, Narrative, 1839, 337. 
Cinclus townsendii, "Audubon," Townsend, Narr. 1839, 340. 
Sp. Ch. — Above dark plumbeous, beneath paler ; head and neck all round a shade of clove or perhaps a light sooty brown ; 
less conspicuous beneath. A concealed spot of white above the anterior corner of the eye and indications of the same sometimes 
on the lower eyelid. Immature specimens usually with the feathers beneath edged with grayish white; the greater and middle 
wing coverts and lesser quills tipped with the same. The colors more uniform. Length, 7 .50 ; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.55. 
Hab. — Rocky mountains from British America to Mexico. 
With a large number of specimens of the American Dipper before me, I find considerable 
variations, without being at all satisfied of the existence of more than one species. In all, the 
white spot above the eye is evident, though its extent varies. Sometimes the brown of the 
head and neck is but slightly different from the plumbeous of the back. 
