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HA RDWICKE'S S CIE NCE- G SSI P. 



NOTES ON THE COMMON DIPPER. 



THE Dipper needs no description, as doubtless 

 your readers, who are interested in the subject, 

 are well acquainted with it. It is fast disappearing 

 from the banks of many of our streams. There are 

 various causes at work to bring about this result ; and 

 one of these proceeds from the mistaken idea, enter- 

 tained by many, that the dipper feeds almost entirely 

 upon the spawn of the salmon and other fish, I have 



Fig. 148. — The Dipper or Water Ousel (Cinclus aquafkus). 



found as many as ten nests of this bird along the 

 course of a certain stream, now they have dwindled 

 considerably. I have watched this bird — the water 

 crow of my boyhood — for hours together, in its search 

 for food, have seen it examined after it had had a 

 hearty meal, but never found traces of the spawn or 

 eggs of fish. It may be possible, however, that these 

 tit-bits may quickly be assimilated by this bird, which, 

 like the rest of tlie bird tribe, has marvellous powers 

 of digestion. The only traces of fish in the crop of 

 one were the remains of a very small minnow. The 



crops were generally well supplied with all manner of 

 " creeping," things taken at the bottom of the stream, 

 mixed with particles of sand. My object in writing 

 is to find from one or more of your numerous corre- 

 spondents, who may have given this subject their 

 careful attention, what conclusion they have come to 

 concerning this much persecuted bird, and thus be 

 enabled to put forward a strong plea for its preserva- 

 tion. The following quotations will be interesting, as 

 they all bear directly on the subject, and show that 

 naturalists as well as doctors differ. 



Montague says : — " The dipper devours a- 

 considerable quantity of fishes' spawn, especi- 

 ally the large ova of the salmon." 



Mudie, in his "Feathered Tribes of the 

 British Isles," vol. i. p. 281, has the follow- 

 ing : — "The food of the dipper is water-flies, 

 water-larvae, water insects, worms, the dragon- 

 flies, water beetles, and, in short, a variety of 

 animals and animal matters found in the 

 waters. The fry of the trout and salmon, 

 while still in their cradle pools, numerous as 

 motes in the sun, and each not an inch long, 

 form a supply for it and its young while these 

 are in the nest. 



"This harmless frequenter of our brooks, 

 has of late been accused of devouring salmon 

 spawn, and in some quarters has been doomed, 

 to the fate of all ' vermin.' A few years ago 

 I examined specimens that were killed, be-- 

 cause they were feeding on the spawning 

 ground of the salmon in North Tyne, and 

 found that their crops contained nothing but 

 aquatic insects and their larvae ; no trace 

 whatever of spawn could be detected. In 

 fact, the insects upon which our poor doomed 

 friend had been feeding were much more 

 likely to destroy fish spawn than it was." — 

 Hancock, in the "Natural History Transac- 

 tions of Northumberland and Durham," p. 62. 

 " The food of the dipper consists of small 

 fishes and insects." — Bewick, "British Birds," 

 vol. ii. p. 116. 



" Various water insects, small freshwater 

 shell-fish, and beetles, and the larvae of these,, 

 with occasionally, pei-haps, fry and spawn of 

 fish, are its fare. It also swallows a little 

 gravel, to aid the digestion of its food." — 

 Morris's " British Birds," vol. iii. p. 33. 



The "perhaps" in the above quotation implies 

 doubt. 



Thomas Edwards, the Banff naturalist, remarks : 

 " Every means has been put in requisition to destroy 

 this little bird (the dipper). It was abundant thirty 

 years ago ; but it is now rarely to be seen. It was sup- 

 posed to destroy the young salmon, hence it has been 

 shot down wherever found. But I have never as yet 

 found anything appertaining to fish in its stomach, 

 and I have dissected about forty ; water-insects and. 



