95 
PALLAS’ DIPPEB. 
to 
you ^ ema ^ e is similar to the male in colour, and the 
bnt' “ 01ll y more tinged with reddish. They moult 
once in the year. 
or i 0Se } v 'ld and solitary birds are only met with singly 
t(l P a irs, in the neighbourhood of clear and swift- 
p,.!, .'"S mountain streams, whose bed is covered with 
The . eS ’ au( i strewed with stones and fragments of rock. 
l)r an ^ , are remarkably shy and cautious, never alight on 
t"‘i'<'! i ’ keep always on the border of the stream, 
stdij > ia an attitude peculiar to themselves, on some 
*, , or rock projecting oyer the water, attentively 
t^f^ug for their prey. Thence they repeatedly plunge 
fry u ' 'mttoin, and remain long submerged, searching for 
<W ,ls,a ™*. alu l the other small aquatic animals that 
to their food. They are also very destructive 
aq„ V®fl u itoes, and other dipterous insects, and their 
Tj )( , . larva;, devouring them beneath the surface, 
entp } ,e ver avoid water, nor hesitate in the least to 
and even precipitate themseves without danger 
are ’he falls and eddies of cataracts. Their habits 
nan’ V 1 * ac *> 80 decidedly aquatic, that water may be 
CVh- proper element, although systematically 
trpf bt 'loiig to the true land birds. The web-footed 
lo n „ 8 . s "'m and dive; the long legged birds wade as 
dip? as the water does not touch their feathers; the 
the] ! ‘ l h)iie possess the faculty of walking at ease on 
CS as others do ou dry land, crossing in this 
Tb e y lei trom one shore to the other under water. 
sh a j] 1,1 a }’ he often seen gradually advancing from the 
of j penetrating deeper and deeper, and, careless 
** V) > their depth, walking with great facility on the 
dee,, a S«dnst the current. As soon as the water is 
op* Cao «gh for them to plunge, their wings are 
•Uul . .’dropped, and agitated somewhat convulsively, 
they i the head stretched horizontally, as if flying, 
do W r n - SCe “d to the bottom, w'here they course up and 
tVn ln se arch of food. As long as the eye can follow 
W? they appear, while in the water, covered with 
is 0 q les °f air, rapidly emanating from their bodies, as 
served in some coleopterous insects. 
