Most of the Wagtails (Family _Motacillidæ_), are inhabitants of the Old World, only three of the sixty odd species being found in this country. Our Pipit or Titlark is our best known, most widely distributed species.
Like other members of its family it has the habit of wagging or tipping its tail both when walking (for it should be noted that these birds are ground-inhabiting and walkers) and at rest.
The Dippers (Family _Cinclidæ_) though numbering only twelve species are distributed throughout the larger part of the world from the Andes of South America to the mountains of Alaska, Europe, Asia and Africa.
Everywhere they are haunters of streams, usually dashing mountain torrents, over and _under_ which they seem equally at home. Darting into the rushing waters they fly beneath the surface or feed on the bottom with perfect ease, their thick, dense plumage evidently forming a water-proof covering. Their nests are great balls of moss often placed so near some boiling cascade as to receive frequent showers of spray. The opening, however, is at the side, and the eggs and young are well protected by an effective roof.
The Wrens, Thrashers, and Mockingbirds, (Family _Troglodytidæ_) form two well defined subfamilies. The Wrens, (Subfamily _Troglodytinæ_) number about one hundred and fifty species all but a dozen of which are confined to America. The Thrashers and Mockingbirds, (Subfamily _Miminæ_) number some fifty species, all of which are confined to America.
As their dull, neutral colors would lead us to suppose, both Wrens and Thrashers are inhabitants of the lower growth rather than of the tree-tops, and while they may seek an elevated perch whence to deliver their song, their food is secured and their time consequently largely passed near or on the ground.
Few families of birds contain so many noted musicians, nearly every member of this family being a singer of more than usual ability.
The Creepers, (Family _Certhiidæ_) number twelve species, only one of which is found in America. This, however has a wide range and, presenting more or less climatic variation in color, is recognized under several subspecific names. Its habits, nevertheless, are much the same everywhere. It climbs the trees of the mountains of Mexico or of California with the same ceaseless energy it shows in Maine.