THE DIPPER.
Cinclus aquaticus, Bechstein; Le Merle d’dau, Buffon; Der Wasserschwätzer, Bechstein.
This bird resembles the starling in size, but the head is more pointed, and the body, in general, larger, while the wings and tail are shorter, the tail being only one inch and a quarter long, and the ends of the wings cover a fourth part of it; the beak is three quarters of an inch long, narrow, flattish at the sides, raised in the middle, sharp and black; the narrow nostrils are almost entirely closed by a membrane; the iris is light brown; the shanks are an inch high, and of a dark brown, and have the four toes united together; the head and upper part of the neck are of a dusky rust brown; the rest of the upper part of the body is black, with an ashy gray tint; the quill-feathers and tail are blackish; the neck to half-way down the breast is pure white; the rest of the breast is deep maroon, which shades into the black of the belly.
In the female the head and upper part of the neck are lighter, and the white of the breast is not so pure as in the male.
Habitation.—When wild it frequents by preference the banks of rivers and streams in mountainous countries, and remains all the year near those whose waters flow from springs which never freeze.
In confinement it has a cage like the thrush, unless it is by preference allowed to run about the room.
Food.—When wild it feeds upon aquatic insects, worms, and even small fish, which it is said to seize by diving.