Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-10-17
WATER OUZEL'S HABITS
BIRD LOVES SPRAY OF NOUN.
TAIN STREAMS.
From the Independent.

From the Independent.
For days we had been urging our patien.
burros over snowy mountain passes into
the heart OF the southern Sierra Nevada
Our destination was the Kern river canyon
where. far from civilization, we at las;
pitched our camp under the sugar pines
somewhat more than 6.0O0 feet above the
Pacific. One dawning July morning 1 wac
worming my way through blooming ceano-
| thus along the banks of Coyote creek eager
to cast a fly on a few foam-fecked pools
| near its junction with the Kern. Fed by the
melting SHOWS of the great divide, ever,
morning found the creek at its fullest for
then 1t was carrying past our camp the in.
crement of the previous days thaw A keen
ear could easily detect In the thunder OF II,
falls fuller crescendo. and the water leap
ed from the escarpments with greater aban
DON True to her name, the water-ouze'
tCfnclus Mexicanus) was there in her "a !
vorite environment of alder, pines and fiy-
ing spray. John Mur's classic study of this
unique bird had long made me DESTROYS cd
seeing 1t In its native haunts. My efforts
to beguile the excessively wary trout tina 4
morning made me an object OF much sus-
picion to a pair of "Dippers," who seemed
to claim exclusive hunting rights on tina
part of the creek. Evidently they had never
seen a man DO thing SO insane as to whir
a stream with a make believe fly at the end|
of long string. Was he fishing for ouZels Fl
Did ne expect their nestlings To bite on tina
N.Y. Their behavior made 1t apparent that
brood must be hidden away behind one oil
the many cascades. 1t required but little
observation to locate the nest-a moss build
affair sunk In the floor of a che behind al
heavy sheet of falling water. The site had|
been cleverly selected No increase of vol
-ume In the stream could endanger the nest
for the pool had enough fall to spill all the|
water above certain level. The dia pha
nous liquid curtain effectually screened Id
from observation and protected It from bird
Eaxr ar,ttrg h;,l~
ture to seek their prey behind a waterfall
The ready accessibility of this nesting site|
for purposes of observation at once suggest
ed to me the possibility of photogra phinp|
the birds as they came and went in pursu-
ance OF their family duties. Their exces-
sive shyness was the only obstacle. Tod
overcome this l continued to fish for two|
days near their particular cascades, pre-
tending not to see them; and yet II was|
only the occasional unwary trout that FOUND
his way into my creel. My interest for the
time was more pathological than piscato-
rial. The ruSe succeeded for the ouZels de
cided that | was harmlessly interested III
my own business, insane though 1t was
and began to go about theirs with conf
dence This probation period afforded op-
portunity for the study of their habits and
manners The water-ouZel is indeed a bob
bling. bowling, winking compound of many
avian charms. His nickname clipper ii
the result of an attempt to describe him by1
one of his most obvious traits. One if
tempted to speculate in what far-of period
of time this "hummfng bird of blooming
waters" may have acquired the bowling ant
scraping habit which one Is accus toned to
think the peculiar accomplishment of the
snipe family and few other birds. The
possession of nictitating membrane. evf-
dence of long and intimate acquaintance
with the water. gives the bird an air o
winking at the observer.
Search for Food.
In his search after food he often lights ir
Wild c4r x.-bI Lob, = I, :
water dashes at intervals. Not infrequently|
1 saw him swept off into a churning pool !
But his short wings enabled him to rise
from the water with ease. Sometimes h !
complacently swan to the nearest bank and
waded out. He can use his wings as oars
or as fms so that IT makes little difference
to him whether he swims upon under
the surface Several pairs OF these birda
had set up housekeeping In more inaccessi{
BILE places under some of the higher falls
AS with short and rapid wing stroke the.
darted in and out among the flying spume
and spray often directly through tn
swaying sheet of water, they seemed ths|
very embodiment of the spirit of the water |
fall. The two sprites which L had undo !
particular observation were quite generous
In showing off their varied accomplish
ments. They swan, dived, waded, sang
they prouetted from rock to rock. slipped
into the current by intention or accident
effickered In the sunlight and washed thei
of the falls. Four hungry mouths kept theu
extremely busy. Every few minutes they
appeared with their bills full of insects
that live in and beside the water. In fact
a young water-ouzel seems to be quite al
bottomless as a baby robin. Both continue
the begging habit as a fine art long aftel
they ought to be finding their own grub
Several young ouzels which l observed
near the falls of Volcano creek seemed the
most accomplished avian beggars l have
ever seen. Not only their voices. but every
sprouting pin feather seemed to be saying
"Give a poor beggar something to eat!'
Care Of the Fledglings.
Not the least interesting and commend
able feature OF a water-ouzers family III
is the fact that husband and wife expec
to assume equal shares of the family bur
dens How they apportion their duties dur
ing the period of incubation l was not able
to observe But both minister with equa
assiduity to the needs OF the fedglings
What is more important, they seem to hold
each other to the performance of this dut
under difficult circumstances. The fol
lowing incident took place at the time whet
l was preparing to photograph the bird
at close range: l had concealed my camer
within six feet of the place where the
were accustomed to perch before entering
the niche behind the cascade. Such clos
approach again excited suspicion and alarm
For considerably more than an hour the
refused to carry food to their nestlingS
Then the female began to reconnoiter. See
ing that I was apparently only whippini
her home pool, as l had dashed many an
other pool in the neghborhood. she decide
to risk visit to her nest with load
tdbits. The distribution must have bee
made with unseemly haste, for she immedi
ateiy appeared again through her doorwa
of spray. She was. however. In no hast
to leave the neighborhood, but lit on
boulder a few feet away and warbled tn
equivalent of a coast clear" to her lubber
ly husband who was still nursing his sus
piciorH on distant rock In the stream. III
would not come. His bill was full OF Ma
flies A second and third time she sig
nailed and now he very circumspecuy ap
preached the cascade that hid the nest, fill
ting hesitatingly from rock to rock until n
was almost beside her. But suddenly nj
fears again overcame his courage, and b
darted precipitately back to the place fror
which he had started. He was not going
risk his neck not he, This churlish beha
yior seemed to rouse the ire of his spouse
Instantly she lit beside him. and runnin
her bill several times vigorously into ny
fluffy plumage she took his catch OF Ma
flies from him and carried them to the huI
cry nestlings. Her example, no less tina
the little explosion of wifely indignation
seemed to recall him to a sense of his duty
My presence was soon ignored and he cam