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CINCLUS PALLASII. 
The dippers run very fast : their flight is direct, and 
swift as an arrow, just skimming the surface, precisely 
in the manner of the kingfisher. They often plunge 
under at once, without alighting, reappearing at a 
distance. When on their favourite rocks, these birds 
are constantly dipping in the water, at the same time 
flirting their erected tail. While on the wing, they 
utter a feeble cry, their voice being weak and shrill, 
but somewhat varied ; and they sing from their perch, 
not loud, hut sweetly, even in the depth of winter. 
Early in the spring, they begin to utter clear and 
distinct notes, and are among the first to cheer the 
lonely and romantic haunts which they frequent, with 
their simple melody. 
These birds, like others that live about the water, 
pair early, and have two broods in the season. The 
young can leave their nest before being full-fledged ; and, 
at the approach of danger, drop from the height where 
it is generally placed, into the water. In order that this 
may be done, they build in some place overhanging the 
water, the ledge of a rock, or the steep bank of a 
rivulet; or, sometimes, in inhabited countries, take 
advantage of mills, bridges, or other works of man. 
The nest is large, composed of moss, and vaulted above ; 
the eggs are from four to six, and of a milky white. 
Though very carefully hid, it may be easily discovered 
by the incessant chirping of the young. 
Having seen nothing but the dried skin of the 
American dipper, and being utterly unacquainted with 
its habits, we have been describing as common to the 
genus those of the European species, which are well 
known, and which we have stopped to watch and 
admire among the precipices of the Alps and Apen- 
nines, where it struggles with the steepest and most 
noisy cascades, and the wildest torrents. The exceed- 
ingly great similarity of form in the two species, 
strongly warrants the belief of equal similarity in 
habits. The more uniform and cinereous hue of the 
American, the want of reddish, but especially the 
striking absence of the white on the throat and breast, 
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