The WHITE-TUFTED LAUGHING THRUSH (Garrulax leucolophus) is a large bird, about twelve inches long and fifteen and a half broad; its wing and tail both measure five inches. The head—with the exception of the black cheek-stripes—the nape, throat, and breast are pure white, shaded with grey upon the sides; the rest of the plumage is of a reddish olive-brown, deepest in shade on the inner web of the quills and tail-feathers. All the wooded tracts of the Himalayas afford shelter to large numbers of these remarkable birds, and resound with their most peculiar cry, which so closely resembles a hideous laugh as to startle, and, indeed, positively to terrify such as hear it for the first time. Insects, snails, worms, and berries afford them their principal means of subsistence; the former are sought for on the ground or in the foliage, and the latter are gathered from the branches as they hang suspended from the trees. The nest is a mere mass of roots, moss, and grass, placed in a thick bush. The eggs are few in number, and have a pure white shell. Frith gives us an interesting account of the manner in which a very similar species, the CHINESE LAUGHING THRUSH (Garrulax Chinensis), kills and devours its prey. "This bird," he tells us, "seized a snake about a foot long that was put into its cage, struck it against the ground, bored its head repeatedly with its bill, and then proceeded to eat it, holding the body firmly with his foot whilst he tore it into pieces. Large beetles he treated in a similar manner, and, previous to snapping up a wasp or a bee, always allowed his intended victim to drive its sting repeatedly into his expanded tail; small pieces of cooked flesh he placed between the bars of his cage before proceeding to devour them."
The WATER OUZELS (Cinclus) constitute a group whose members, though closely allied to the Thrushes, have been separated from them on account of certain peculiarities by which they are distinguished. They all have slender bodies, which, however, appear stout, owing to the great thickness of the plumage; delicate, almost straight beaks, compressed at the sides and narrow towards the tip; the nostrils are closed by a fold of skin; the feet are high and strong, the toes long, and armed with very hooked and strong claws; the wing is unusually short, much rounded, and almost as broad as it is long; the tail-feathers, which are broad and slightly rounded at the extremity, are so short as to be little more than stumps. The thick, soft plumage is totally unlike that possessed by any other land birds, being furnished with an undergrowth of downy feathers. The Water Ouzels are met with in all parts of the world, but are especially numerous in northern countries; they are also occasionally seen in the Himalayas, Andes, and other tropical mountain ranges.
THE WATER OUZEL, OR DIPPER.
WATER OUZELS AND KINGFISHER.
The WATER OUZEL, or DIPPER (Cinclus aquaticus), is seven and a half inches long, and eleven and one-third broad, the wing measures three and a half, and the tail two inches; the female is a few lines smaller than her mate. The coloration of the plumage is simple, but very striking, the head and nape are yellowish brown; the feathers on the rest of the upper part of the body are slate-grey, edged with black; the entire throat is milk-white; the upper breast reddish brown, and the remainder of the under side deep brown; the feathers of the young are light slate-colour, bordered with a deeper shade on the back, and on the under parts of a dirty white, with dark edges and markings. The Dippers are found very extensively throughout all such European mountain ranges—except the Scandinavian Alps, where they are replaced by a similar but darker bird—as are well supplied with water; they also frequent Central Asia, Palestine, and North-western Africa. In the south and extreme east of Asia and in America they are represented by a variety of nearly allied species. In Great Britain they are also numerous, especially in Derbyshire, upon the banks of the Dove and Derwent. Waterfalls, rippling streams, and mountain lakes are the localities they most delight in; and in the vicinity of these they often remain throughout the entire year, always providing that during the winter the ice upon the surface of the water does not so entirely cover it as to prevent them from indulging in the constant immersions that may be said to be almost necessary to their existence. It is not uncommon to see the banks of a mountain stream, from its source to its fall, occupied by a party of these birds, each pair taking possession of about a quarter of a mile of water, and living strictly within the limits of its district. Those who have been at the pains to observe the movements and habits of this interesting species, cannot fail to have been delighted by the antics it performs while carrying on its bathing operations; not merely does it run over the stony bed of the river with the utmost agility, and wade even up to its eyes in the rippling stream, but continues its course under the water, or even beneath the ice, to a considerable depth, not, as has been stated, for a minute at a time, but certainly during the space of from fifteen to twenty seconds. Strange as this performance by so small a bird may appear to our readers, wading is the least extraordinary part of its proceedings; into the swift eddying rapid, into the bed of the roaring, rushing waterfall, it boldly plunges, steering its way, if need be, with the aid of its short wings, through the whirling masses of water, and flying, or rather, we should say, swimming, by the help of its pinions, across more tranquil spots with an ease that will bear comparison with the movements of almost any species of water-fowl. Nuttall says, in speaking of these birds, "When the water becomes deep enough for them to plunge, they open and drop their wings with an agitated motion, and, with the head stretched out as in the ordinary act of flying in the air, descend to the bottom, and there, as if on the ground, course up and down in quest of food. While under the water, to which their peculiar plumage is impermeable, they appear as though silvered over with rapidly escaping bubbles of air." A writer in the "Annals of Sporting," gives the following interesting account of a party of these birds, to whose movements he was an eye-witness:—
THE WATER OUZEL, OR DIPPER (Cinclus aquaticus).