56 THE ANGLER'S FRIEND. 



black. The legs are somewhat short, but very 

 strong ; the claws considerably curved, to pre- 

 vent slipping. 



Of most hermit-like and exclusive habits, the 

 dipper loves to linger amidst the wildest soli- 

 tudes of Nature, frequenting streams that push 

 their headlong way through mountain-glens, or 

 wind in tortuous course over the heather- clad 

 moorland. It may, too, occasionally be seen 

 briefly resting on the dripping spokes of the 

 wheel when the mill stops, its low plaintive 

 warble faintly heard above the splash of the 

 water. 



Every angler must be familiar with the dip- 

 per's song, always a welcome strain not loud, 

 but exquisitely sweet and melodious. Except 

 during the breeding season, it rarely happens 

 that two are seen together ; they pair very early, 

 and, before the ice is gone from the streams and 

 pools, in the month of February, their nuptial 

 choruses (as they fidget about, perched on a 

 boulder, dead log, or projecting rock, bobbing 

 their heads, or dipping) herald the coming 

 spring. In the selection of their nesting-place 

 they exhibit great diversity of taste. It may be 

 placed in the cleft of a rock, in a ruined wall, 

 among a mass of tangled roots, under a bridge, 



