22 WILD NATURE'S WAYS. 



photographs of ring ouzels, dippers, and other 

 birds of hke habits at home amidst their craggy 

 surroundings, I again enhsted the assistance of 

 my friend Mr. Charles Thorpe, who always enters 

 enthusiastically into the carrying out of my 

 schemes for circumventing wild Nature. He made 

 me a limestone-grey artificial rock in five easily 

 adjustable pieces, to hide in witli the camera, 

 and upon reaching my uncle's home amongst 

 the Westmoreland Fells, I speedily had it fixed 

 uj) near to a dipper's nest in a peculiarly ad- 

 vantageous situation for my purpose. It was 

 built on the top of a large boulder by the moun- 

 tain becksidc, shown in our illustration, and after 

 leaving the counterfeit rock, where it is to be 

 seen, all night, I moved it the following morning 

 to a position close behind the crag, half ])uried 

 in the ground, on the right of the one upon which 

 the mossy, ball-like nest is resting. 



As soon as I had retired within the hollow 

 rock, and quiet was restored, the female came 

 back up-stream, flying from stone to stone by 

 easy stages, and curtseying daintily all the while 

 until she arrived in front of her home, when she 

 flew straight in without allowing me the remotest 

 chance of taking a photograph. 



By-and-by the male bird arrived uj^on the 

 scene with the larva of a stone-fly in his bill, and 

 after uttering a warning note of his coming, 



