care that she will not even make her escape at the approach of danger, she rarely succeeds in hatching more than two of her brood, the rest of the eggs being no doubt addled by the damp situation of the nest. Whilst engaged in tending their young family, the parents often appear to lay aside their usual timidity, and will permit a stranger to investigate their proceedings without exhibiting any sign of fear. THE AMERICAN WATER OUZEL. The AMERICAN WATER OUZEL (_Cinclus Americanus_) differs from the European species above described by the absence of white on the brownish chin and throat. Nuttall tells us, in his interesting work on American ornithology, that "this bird was first noticed by Pallas in the Crimea, and afterwards by Mr. Bullock in Mexico, from whence it appears, by an exclusively interior route, to penetrate into the wild and remote interior of Canada, as far as the shores of the Athabasca Lake." Mr. Townsend says, in speaking of this bird--whose habits are but little known--"The American Dipper inhabits the clear mountain streams in the vicinity of the Columbia. When observed it was swimming along the rapids, occasionally flying for short distances over the surface of the water, and then diving into it, re-appearing after a short interval. Sometimes it alights on the banks of the stream, and jerks its tail upwards like a Wren. I did not hear it utter any note. The stomach was found to contain fragments of fresh-water snail-shells. I observed that this bird did not alight on the surface of the water, but dived immediately while on the wing." * * * * * The PITTAS, or PAINTED THRUSHES (_Pittæ_), constitute a family of birds nearly allied to the preceding, and remarkable for their short but powerful body, moderately long neck, large head, and long wings--in which the fourth and fifth quills exceed the rest in length--that reach to the tips of the very short, straight tail. All have unusually powerful beaks, compressed at the sides, and slightly arched at the culmen, those of some species in particular being so strong as to have occasioned Linnæus to class them with the Ravens. The foot is slender, the tarsus high, and the outer toes connected with that in the centre as far as the first joint. The plumage is thick and full, and usually glows with the most resplendent colours. Owing to the great variety of hue and difference in the shape of the beak and length of quills observable in the different members of this family, they have been necessarily subdivided, although they all nearly resemble each other in their habits and mode of life. THE NURANG.