The AMERICAN WATER OUZEL (_Cinclus Americanus_) differs from the European
species above described by the absence of white on the brownish chin
and throat. Nuttall tells us, in his interesting work on American
ornithology, that "this bird was first noticed by Pallas in the Crimea,
and afterwards by Mr. Bullock in Mexico, from whence it appears, by
an exclusively interior route, to penetrate into the wild and remote
interior of Canada, as far as the shores of the Athabasca Lake."
Mr. Townsend says, in speaking of this bird--whose habits are but little
known--"The American Dipper inhabits the clear mountain streams in the
vicinity of the Columbia. When observed it was swimming along the rapids,
occasionally flying for short distances over the surface of the water,
and then diving into it, re-appearing after a short interval. Sometimes
it alights on the banks of the stream, and jerks its tail upwards like a
Wren. I did not hear it utter any note. The stomach was found to contain
fragments of fresh-water snail-shells. I observed that this bird did not
alight on the surface of the water, but dived immediately while on the
wing."
* * * * *
The PITTAS, or PAINTED THRUSHES (_Pittæ_), constitute a family of birds
nearly allied to the preceding, and remarkable for their short but
powerful body, moderately long neck, large head, and long wings--in which
the fourth and fifth quills exceed the rest in length--that reach to the
tips of the very short, straight tail. All have unusually powerful beaks,
compressed at the sides, and slightly arched at the culmen, those of some
species in particular being so strong as to have occasioned Linnæus to
class them with the Ravens. The foot is slender, the tarsus high, and
the outer toes connected with that in the centre as far as the first
joint. The plumage is thick and full, and usually glows with the most
resplendent colours. Owing to the great variety of hue and difference in
the shape of the beak and length of quills observable in the different
members of this family, they have been necessarily subdivided, although
they all nearly resemble each other in their habits and mode of life.