WATER-OUZEL. 57 



SO solely for the purpose of feeding upon the 

 ova, and, in consequence, thinking I was 

 getting rid of an enemy, I took great pains 

 to destroy as many as possible. Amongst 

 those I killed, twenty fell to my gun just as 

 they emerged from spawning-beds, every one 

 of which I at once opened from bill to 

 gizzard. On examination both before and 

 after washing, with the naked eye and under 

 the microscope, I could not in one single 

 instance discover a trace of ova, neither of 

 case of ova, nor of the oleaginous matter 

 which forms the contents of the case ; in- 

 stead of this, I found the stomach full of the 

 larvae of flies, whole and in fragments, and 

 always more or less of fine sand. About this 

 date I heard of the destruction of ova in 

 the boxes at Stormontfield by the larvae of 



