1 62 The Scottish Naturalist. 



I have watched frequently the deliberately cool way it takes the 

 water. It always appeared to fly through the water, reached the 

 bottom, seemed to struggle to keep itself steady on the stones and 

 gravel, its wings moving rapidly all the time. It remained from 

 fifteen to thirty seconds, then came bounding to the surface like a 

 cork. Its feathers, like those of all aquatic birds, are impervious to 

 water. I pursued a wounded one in the month of December, 1885, 

 and after twenty minutes hard chase, captured him under a bed of 

 thin ice. In the parts of the stream free from ice he dived and re- 

 appeared ten yards, sometimes twenty yards further down the water. 

 His movement in the water was none other than flying. His wings 

 are admirably adapted for aquatic flight. 



Any one wishing to know for himself the true habits of this bird, 

 must follow it into its native haunts. As a proof of the need of this 

 listen to our authorities, and let him judge who will. 



Morris, in his British Birds, says, that the Dipper has the power 

 of walking at the bottom of the water is an established fact (?). The 

 argument against its being able to do so is, that to the reasoning- 

 powers of some persons it does not seem possible. Its feet are ad- 

 mirably adapted for holding on to the stones over which it makes its 

 way, and for stemming at the same time the force of the current. In 

 its walks it keeps on the bottom as long as you can see it, and doubt- 

 less also after you have lost sight of it. 



Words to the same effect are used by Lamaire in his " Natural 

 History of the Birds of Europe." 



Macgillivray, in his British Birds, says, that the assertion that the 

 Dipper walks in the water on the bottom, which some persons have 

 ventured to make, is not made good by observation, nor counten- 

 anced by the nature of things. The Dipper is by no means a walk- 

 ing bird ; even on land I have never seen it move more than a few 

 steps, which it accomplished by a kind of leaping motion. Its short 

 legs and curved claws are very ill adapted for running, but admirably 

 calculated for securing a steady footing on slippery stones. 



Bewick, in his British Birds, states, that the most singular trait 

 in the character of the Dipper is that of possessing the power of 

 walking on the pebbly bottom of a river with the same ease as on 

 dry land. 



It is a weary waste of time getting up the Natural History of Birds 

 from books. Certainly they have their good uses; but he who would 

 wish to obtain accurate facts must, like Macgillivray, go forth to the 

 woodlands, moors, and river glens, or mountain slopes, and observe 

 for himself, being ever on guard against drawing rash conclusions. 



