4 PALLAS’ DfPPER.
streams, whose bed is-covered with pebbles, and strewed with
stones and fragments of rock. They are remarkably shy and
cautions, never alight on branches*,but keep always -on the' border
of the stream, perched, in ah attitude‘ peculiar* to themselves; on
some stone or rock projecting over'the water, attentively watching
for. their prey. Thence they repeatedly plunge to the bottom,
and remain long submerged, searching for fry, Crustacea, and the
othei* small aquatic animals that constitute their food.* ’ They are
also very, destructive to musquitoes, and other dipterous inseotfe
and their aquatic larvse, .devouring them beneath the surface.
They never avoid water, qbr. hesitate jm the least, to enter i¥, and
even precipitate themselves without danger amidst the falls and
eddies of cataracts. Theil- habits are in fact so decidedly aquatic,
that water may be called their proper element, although systematically
they, belong' to the true land birds. The web-footed tflbtes
swim and dive ;1 the long-legged birds wade as long as the water
does ,not touch their feathers; the Dippers alone possess the,
faculty of walking at ease on the bottom, as, others do on dry
land, crossing in this manner from one shore to the other under
water. They may be ofteii seen gradually advancing from the
shallows, penetrating deeper and deepen, and> careless o f losing
their depth, walking'with. great facility oh the gravel against the
current. As 'soon as the water is deep enough for them to plunge,
their wings are opened, dropped, and agitated somewhat convulsively,
and with the head stretched- horizontally, as if flying,
they descend to the bottomj where they course up and doWn in
search- of food. A.s long as the eye can follow them, they appear,
while in the water, covered with bubbles of air, rapidly emanating
from their bodies, as is observed in soup.e coleopterous insects.
The Dippers run very fa st: 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 ure constantly dipping in thew.&ter, at the
same time flirting the®v®feo6©d tail. While on the wing they
utter a feeble ccgr* th e ir vc^e-being weak and sh ril4 # u t
what varied, and they sing from their perch, not loud, but sweetly,
even in the depth of wintetr;. Early in' the spring they begin to
utter clear* and distinct nates, and are among the first to eheér
the lonélly and romantic haunts which they frequent,» with .their
simple melody. ! These birds, like others th a t live about the water, pair.early,
ahd have two-broods -in the sease^a. The. young can leave their
nest before being full-fledged,, and at the. approach ©f danger,
I 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 l e d g e - a rock* or the steep bank of a
rivuletj or - sometimes,--in -inhabited- gauntries, take a'dvantag©
of mills, bridges, dr, < other works ©f 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 yèlög,
Having seen nothing but the dried skin of the.Ameriean Dipper,
and being utterly unacquainted with its habits, we have been
describing as common tq 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 Appennines, where
it struggles with the .steepest and most noisy cascades, and the
wildest torrents.. The exceedingly great similarity of form in the
. two species 'strongly warrants the; belief óf equal similarity in
habits. The more uniform and ciüereóus- hue of the American,
- the- want of re.dqi$h, but espècially the striking absence of the
white oii the throat and . breast, are the hut sufficient marks
of difference between the two speeies.
VOL. i n .— B