_Cinclus pallasi_, BON. Zoöl. Jour. II, 1827, 52 (not the Asiatic
species). _Cinclus mexicanus_, SW. Phil. Mag. 1827, 368.—SCLATER,
Catal. 1861, 10.—SALVIN, Ibis, 1860, 190; 1867, 120
(Guatemala).—BAIRD, Review, 60.—DALL & BANNISTER (Alaska).—COOPER,
Birds Cal. 1, 25. _Hydrobata mexicana_, BAIRD, Birds N. Am.
1858, 229.—COOPER & SUCKLEY, Rep. P. R. R, XII, II, 1859, 175
(nest). _Cinclus americanus_, RICH. F. B. A. II, 1831, 273.
_Cinclus unicolor_, BON.; _C. mortoni_, TOWNS.; _C. townsendi_,
“AUD.” TOWNS.
Figures: BONAPARTE, Am. Orn. II, 1828, pl. xvi, fig. 1.—AUD. Orn.
Biog. pl. ccclxx, 435.—IB. Birds Amer. II, pl. cxxxvii.
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.
_Young._ Similar to the adult, but much mixed with whitish medially
beneath; this in form of longitudinal suffusions.
Autumnal and winter specimens have numerous transverse crescents of
whitish on lower parts and wings,—these very especially conspicuous
posteriorly; the secondaries are also conspicuously terminated with a
white crescent. Bill brown, paler toward base of lower mandible. In
spring and summer the bill entirely black, and the whitish markings
almost entirely disappear; the young bird has a greater amount of
white beneath than the adult in winter dress, and this white is
disposed in longitudinal, not transverse, suffusions. The color of the
legs appears to be the same at all seasons.
[Illustration: PLATE V.
1. Cinclus mexicanus, _Sw._ N. M., 8496.
2. Sialia mexicana, _Sw._ Cal., 10623.
3. “ sialis, _Baird_. D. C., 28245.
4. “ arctica, _Sw._ Rocky Mts., 18319.
5. Phyllopneuste borealis. Alaska, 45909.
6. Saxicola œnanthe, _Bechst._ France, 18959.
7. Regulus cuvieri, _Aud._ (From Aud.’s plate.)
8. “ satrapa, _Licht._ D. C., 1160.
9. “ calendula, _Licht._ Penn., 736.]
Specimens, of any age, from the coast of Oregon and the Cascade
Mountains, have the head more deeply brownish than those from other
regions.
HAB. Found through the mountainous region of the central and western
part of North America, from Fort Halkett south into Mexico and
Guatemala. Orizaba (Alpine region) SUMICH. None received from the
coast region of California. Abundant on the N. W. coast, Laramie Peak
and Deer Creek, Neb.
This species has a wide range along the mountainous region of North
and Middle America. Mexican specimens are darker.
HABITS. This interesting bird inhabits exclusively the mountainous
portions of North America west of the Mississippi from Alaska south to
Guatemala. It does not appear to have been obtained on the coast of
California, nor in the valley of the Mississippi. In the British
Possessions specimens have been procured on Fraser’s River, at Fort
Halkett, and at Colville. At the latter place Mr. J. K. Lord states
that a few remain and pass the winter. They are found among the
mountain streams of Vera Cruz, and probably throughout Mexico, and no
doubt may be met with in all the highlands between these extreme
points. Dr. Newberry met with it in the rapid streams of the Cascade
Mountains. He describes it as flitting along in the bed of the stream,
from time to time plunging into the water and disappearing, to appear
again at a distant point, up or down the stream, skipping about from
stone to stone, constantly in motion, jerking its tail and moving its
body somewhat in the manner of a wren.
Dr. Cooper observed this species both on the Columbia and its
tributaries, and also among the mountain streams of the Coast Range
west of Santa Clara. At the latter place he found a pair mated as
early as March 16th. At sunset he heard the male singing very
melodiously, as it sat on one of its favorite rocks in the middle of
the foaming rapids, making its delightful melody heard for quite a
long distance above the sound of the roaring waters.
“This bird,” adds Dr. Cooper, “combines the form of a sandpiper, the
song of a canary, and the aquatic habits of a duck. Its food consists
almost entirely of aquatic insects, and these it pursues under water,
walking and flying with perfect ease beneath a depth of several feet
of water.” He also states that they do not swim on the surface, but
dive, and sometimes fly across streams beneath the surface; that their
flight is rapid and direct, like that of a sandpiper; also that they
jerk their tails in a similar manner, and generally alight on a rock
or log.
Dr. Cooper on the 5th of July found a nest of this bird at a saw-mill
on the Chehalis River, built under the shelving roots of an enormous
arbor-vitæ that had floated over, and rested in a slanting position
against the dam. The floor was of small twigs, the sides and roof
arched over it like an oven, and formed of moss, projecting so as to
protect and shelter the opening, which was large enough to admit the
hand. Within this nest was a brood of half-fledged young. The parents
were familiar and fearless, and had become accustomed to the society
of the millers. They had previously raised another brood that season.
The same observant naturalist, some time afterwards, in May, found the
nest of another pair, a few miles north of Santa Clara. This was built
near the foot of a mill-dam, resting on a slight ledge under an
overhanging rock, from which water was continually dropping. It was,
in shape, like an oven, with a small doorway, and it was built
externally of green moss, which, being still living, prevented the
easy discovery of the nest. It was lined with soft grass, and
contained young.
These birds are found singly or in pairs, and never more than two
together. They are never found near still water, and frequent only
wild mountain-streams, cascades, eddies, and swift currents.
According to Mr. Dall’s observations in Alaska, the species is
essentially solitary. He obtained several specimens in January,
February, and March, always near some open, unfrozen spots in the
Nulato River. It was only found in the most retired spots, and almost
invariably alone. When disturbed, it would dive into the water, even
in midwinter.
Mr. Ridgway describes the Dipper as remarkably quick, as well as odd,
in its movements,—whether walking in the shallow bed of the stream,
or standing on a stone along the edge, continually tilting up and
down, now chattering as it flies rapidly along the stream, again
alighting into the water, in which it wades with the greatest
facility. Its flight is remarkably swift and well sustained, and in
manner is very unusual, the bird propelling itself by a rapid buzzing
of the wings, following in its flight every undulation in the course
of the stream into which it drops suddenly. Its song is described as
remarkably sweet and lively, in modulation resembling somewhat that of
the _Harporhynchus rufus_, but less powerful, though sweeter in
effect.
Dr. E. Baldamus, of Halle, who possesses specimens of the eggs of this
species, describes them as pure white in color, oval in shape, and
hardly distinguishable from those of the European _C. aquaticus_.
A nest of this bird obtained by Mr. J. Stevenson, of Hayden’s
Expedition, in Berthoud’s Pass, Colorado, is a hemisphere of very
uniform contour built on a rock, on the edge of a stream. Externally
it was composed of green moss, in a living state; within is a strong,
compactly built apartment, arched over, and supported by twigs, with a
cup-like depression at the bottom, hemispherical and composed of roots
and twigs firmly bound together. The structure is 7 inches in height
externally, and has a diameter of 10½ inches at the base. Within, the
cavity has a depth of 6 inches; the entrance, which is on one side, is
3½ in breadth by 2½ in height. The eggs were three in number, uniform,
dull white, and unspotted. They measure 1.04 inches by .70. They have
an elongated oval shape, and are much pointed at one end.