Читать книгу A History of North American Birds, Land Birds. Volume 1 - Robert Ridgway - Страница 6

On page 2 will be found the characteristics of this family, which need not be here repeated. There is only a single genus, Cinclus, with four American species, and several from Europe and Asia.

Genus CINCLUS, Bechstein

Hydrobata, Vieillot, Analyse, 1816 (Ag.).—Baird, B. N. A. 229.

Cinclus, Bechstein, Gemein. Naturg. 1802. (Not of Moehring, 1752. Type Sturnus cinclus, L.)—Salvin, Ibis, 1867, 109. (Monograph.)

Cinclus mexicanus.

8117

Gen. Char. Bill without any bristles at the base; slender, subulate; the mandible bent slightly upward; the culmen slightly concave to near the tip, which is much curved and notched; the commissural edges of the bill finely nicked towards end. Feet large and strong, the toes projecting considerably beyond the tail; the claws large. Lateral toes equal. Tail very short and even; not two thirds the wings, which are concave and somewhat falcate. The first primary is more than one fourth the longest. Eggs white.

Cinclus mexicanus.

The slightly upward bend of the bill, somewhat as in Anthus, renders the culmen concave, and the commissure slightly convex. The maxilla at base is nearly as high as the mandible; the whole bill is much compressed and attenuated. The lateral claws barely reach the base of the middle one, which is broad; the inner face extended into a horny lamina, with one or two notches or pectinations somewhat as in Caprimulgidæ. The stiffened sub-falcate wings are quite remarkable. The tail is so short that the upper coverts extend nearly to its tip.

The species are all dull-colored birds, usually brown, sometimes varied with white on the head, back, or throat. They inhabit mountainous subalpine regions abounding in rapid streams, and always attract attention by their habit of feeding under water, searching among the gravel and stones for their insect prey.

The only other species at all allied to the single North American one are the C. ardesiacus of Central America, and C. pallasi of Eastern Asia. They may be easily distinguished by the following characters:—

Plumage beneath scarcely lighter than that above; head and neck brownish, darkest above. Wing, 4.00; tail, 2.15; bill, .50; tarsus, 1.20; middle toe, .85. Legs (in life), pinkish white (8,496 Fort Mass. N. M.). Hab. Mountains of Middle Province from Sitka, south to Guatemala … var. mexicanus.

Plumage beneath much lighter than that above,—very light along the median line; head not brownish, the contrast in shade between upper and lower surfaces very marked. Wing, 3.50; tail, 2.05; bill, .45; tarsus, 1.30; middle toe, .90. Legs yellow. (42,788 ♂ Costa Rica). Hab. Guatemala and Costa Rica … var. ardesiacus.24

Plumage uniform dusky-brown, middle of belly blackish; back and rump squamated with black; wings and tail blackish-brown. Total length, 8.00; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.50; tarsus, 1.25; bill (to rictus), 1.10 (Salvin). Hab. Lake Baikal to Kamtschatka; Amoorland; S. E. Siberia; Japan (Salvin) … var. pallasi.25

Cinclus mexicanus, Swains

AMERICAN DIPPER; WATER OUZEL

Cinclus pallasi, Bon. Zoöl. Jour. II, 1827, 52 (not the Asiatic species). Cinclus mexicanus, Sw. Phil. Mag. 1827, 368.—Sclater, Catal. 1861, 10.—Salvin, Ibis, 1860, 190; 1867, 120 (Guatemala).—Baird, Review, 60.—Dall & Bannister (Alaska).—Cooper, Birds Cal. 1, 25. Hydrobata mexicana, Baird, Birds N. Am. 1858, 229.—Cooper & Suckley, Rep. P. R. R, XII, II, 1859, 175 (nest). Cinclus americanus, Rich. F. B. A. II, 1831, 273. Cinclus unicolor, Bon.; C. mortoni, Towns.; C. townsendi, “Aud.” Towns.

Figures: Bonaparte, Am. Orn. II, 1828, pl. xvi, fig. 1.—Aud. Orn. Biog. pl. ccclxx, 435.—Ib. Birds Amer. II, pl. cxxxvii.

Sp. Ch. Above dark plumbeous, beneath paler; head and neck all round a shade of clove or perhaps a light sooty-brown; less conspicuous beneath. A concealed spot of white above the anterior corner of the eye and indications of the same sometimes on the lower eyelid. Immature specimens usually with the feathers beneath edged with grayish-white; the greater and middle wing-coverts and lesser quills tipped with the same. The colors more uniform. Length, 7.50; wing, 4.00; tail, 2.55.

Young. Similar to the adult, but much mixed with whitish medially beneath; this in form of longitudinal suffusions.

Autumnal and winter specimens have numerous transverse crescents of whitish on lower parts and wings,—these very especially conspicuous posteriorly; the secondaries are also conspicuously terminated with a white crescent. Bill brown, paler toward base of lower mandible. In spring and summer the bill entirely black, and the whitish markings almost entirely disappear; the young bird has a greater amount of white beneath than the adult in winter dress, and this white is disposed in longitudinal, not transverse, suffusions. The color of the legs appears to be the same at all seasons.

PLATE V.

1. Cinclus mexicanus, Sw. N. M., 8496.

2. Sialia mexicana, Sw. Cal., 10623.

3. Sialia sialis, Baird. D. C., 28245.

4. Sialia arctica, Sw. Rocky Mts., 18319.

5. Phyllopneuste borealis, Alaska, 45909.

6. Saxicola œnanthe, Bechst. France, 18959.

7. Regulus cuvieri, Aud. (From Aud.'s plate.)

8. Regulus satrapa, Licht. D. C., 1160.

9. Regulus calendula, Licht. Penn., 736.

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.