tation in affirming th at both.Mr. Swainson’s, and that described»
by Teinxninck, and.supposed to have been.found by Pallas in the
Crimea, are identical with ours;, notwithstanding thé localities
are$so widely;distant.frept each Other,-as well as frorifthat whence
outs comes,, which bp wever it wjrll be perceived, !i§ intermediate
between them. *
• It* has been frequently remarfesd by us, and thé fact is now weR:
established, that many birds of Mexico, entirely unknown m the
Atlantic territories (of the United States, are met with in the
interior, and especially along the range of the Rqcky Mountains,,
at considerably Mghèr latitudes. ^But.it was not to be expected
that a Mexicanl^pecxes should gctend softrlporth as the Athabasca
L#ke, where*&r specimên was procured., -. The eircumstanee is
howeyJBEhe jfess lurprabing in birds of this genus, as their peculiar
haBits will only allow them'to live in certain districts, If hè case;
JÉ similar with the Dippei||ofj|th^.old continent, which, though
*widely dispersed, is only seémm mouijtainous and rocky countries.,
Though'we do hot -see any impr oh ability in thé American species
inhabiting the eastern Asiatic ;shjjlih,Bpe prefer believing that; the
specimens on which^ Temminck ^ |a® ® e d the species, and whose
supposed native place Was the Crimea, were in fact American.
The two species: are so much alike in size, shape, andeven colour,
as to defy the attempts of the most determined system-maker to
separate them into different-groups.
The single species of which ,,th#%enus Cineto' had .hitherto
consisted, was placed -in Sturnus ■ fey '£m n ^ and by Scopoli, with
much more propriety,>in JHötóci&.rXratham referred it t oTurdus*
Brisson, mistaking for affini® the . strong and curious analogy«
which i#Jbears to thé w a d e ^ coa&ered *it as belonging t^ the
gemiSjTrittga, (Sandpipers). *Bechste|n, Illiger, Cuvier, and all the.
best moder^&utborMes, hem; regarded xe as the-type of ^ n a tu ra l
genus, for which they .have unanimously retained th^ jam e of
Crnelm, given fey. Beehstein, VieiHot alone dissenting, and calling
it Hydrobata. This highly characteristic notwithstanding
its close resemblance *in sound and derivation to one already
employed by Illiger as the name of a family, appears to be a
great, favourite with recent ornithologists, as they have applied it
successively to several different genera, and Texhminck has lately
attempted to impose it on-the genus of Ducks which I. had named
Ftdigufa. In my system, the genus Gintlm must take, its place .in
the family Canéri, bètween the genera Twrdus arid Myiothera.
The Dippers,, or Water^OMrifef aré w e lïdistinguished by their
peculiar shaped bill, which is • compressed-subulate, slightly bent
upwards, notched,- and with its edges bent in> and finely deriti-
culated from the middle; b u tm o re especially by their long,
stjput, perfectly smooth tarsi, with thé articulation exposed,, a
character which is proper to the order of waders, of which they
have also the -habits, nay,, are still :mt»r-e aquatic than any of them.
Their plumage also being thick, compact, and oily, is impermeable
to Water, as much so as that of the most decidedly‘aquatic
web-footed birds, for when dipped into it, that fluid runs and drops
from >the surface. Their head is flat, With the forehead low and
narrow; the neck is. stout; the body short arid compact; the nostrils
basal, concave,: longitudinal, half covered by a membrane;
tongue cartilaginous and bifid at tip. Their wings are short and
rounded, furnished with a yery short spurious feather, and having
the third "and fourth* primaries longest ; the tail short, even, arid
composed*®! wide feathers ; the nails large and robust; the lateral
totes are suhequal, thé érifèr united a t base tp tb b middle one, the
hind toe being short arfd robust. The femal’e is similai* to the
male in colour, aqd the Jjoung only more tinged -with reddish.
They, moult but once in the year.
. These wild and solitary birds are only met with singly or in
p;airs, in the-neighbourhoesdi é f cleat and swift-running mountain