ng into them in stormy weather is not wholly dissolved,
but forms a thin, blue sludge, thus rendering the current opaque--then
he seeks the deeper portions of the main rivers, where he may dive to
clear water beneath the sludge. Or he repairs to some open lake or
mill-pond, at the bottom of which he feeds in safety.

When thus compelled to betake himself to a lake, he does not plunge into
it at once like a duck, but always alights in the first place upon some
rock or fallen pine along the shore. Then flying out thirty or forty
yards, more or less, according to the character of the bottom, he
alights with a dainty glint on the surface, swims about, looks down,
finally makes up his mind, and disappears with a sharp stroke of his
wings. After feeding for two or three minutes he suddenly reappears,
showers the water from his wings with one vigorous shake, and rises
abruptly into the air as if pushed up from beneath, comes back to his
perch, sings a few minutes, and goes out to dive again; thus coming and
going, singing and diving at the same place for hours.

[Illustration: ONE OF THE LATE-SUMMER FEEDING-GROUNDS OF THE OUZEL.]

The Ouzel is usually found singly; rarely in pairs, excepting during the
breeding season, and _very_ rarely in threes or fours. I once
observed three thus spending a winter morning in company, upon a small
glacier lake, on the Upper Merced, about 7500 feet above the level of
the sea. A storm had occurred during the night, but the morning sun
shone unclouded, and the shadowy lake, gleaming darkly in its setting of
fresh snow, lay smooth and motionless as a mirror. My camp chanced to be
within a few feet of the water's edge, opposite a fallen pine, some of
the branches of which leaned out over the lake. Here my three dearly
welcome visitors took up their station, and at once began to embroider
the frosty air with their delicious melody, doubly delightful to me that
particular morning, as I had been somewhat apprehensive of danger in
breaking my way down through the snow-choked canons to the lowlands.

The portion of the lake bottom selected for a feeding-ground lies at a
depth of fifteen or twenty feet below the surface, and is covered with a
short growth of algae and other aquatic plants,--facts I had previously
determined while sailing over it on a raft. After alighting on the
glassy surface, they occasionally indulged in a little play, chasing one
another round about in small circles; then all thr