A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1. Robert Ridgway

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      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.

      Family SAXICOLIDÆ.—The Saxicolas

      The general characters of this family have already been given on p. 2, as distinguished from the Turdidæ. The relationships are very close, however, and but little violence would be done by making it a subfamily of Turdidæ or even a group of Turdinæ, as was done in the “Birds of North America.”

      While the group is very well represented in the Old World, America has but one peculiar genus Sialia, and another Saxicola, represented by a single species, a straggler, perhaps, from Greenland on the one side and Siberia on the other. The diagnostic characters of these are as follows, including Turdus to show the relationships of the three genera:—

      Turdus. Tarsi long, exceeding the middle toe; wings reaching to the middle of the tail, which is about four fifths the length of the wings. Bill stout; its upper outline convex toward the base. Second quill shorter than fifth.

      Saxicola. Tarsi considerably longer than the middle toe, which reaches nearly to the tip of the tail. Tail short, even; two thirds as long as the lengthened wings, which reach beyond the middle of the tail. Second quill longer than fifth. Bill attenuated; its upper outline concave towards the base.

      Sialia. СКАЧАТЬ