xii BEITISH IIIHDS' XESTS. 



iugly hid mj^self and began to watch for the return 

 of its builder. Xight fell without l)ringing any 

 success, so I cmied myself np beneath an over- 

 han<?ino: crag, in order to wait until the bird came 

 back in the morning to lay another egg, entirety 

 oblivions of the fact that I should be missed 

 at home. My slumbers were broken early by a 

 great outcry in the little gill. The whole of the 

 able-bodied population of our mountain village had 

 tm-ned out to help find me, and I have good reason 

 for believing that many moiu'nful prophecies as to 

 my fate were indulged in by those who knew some- 

 thing of my queer habits. I sufi'ered that night some- 

 what severely in the interests of science; nevertheless 

 my ardour was not quenched, and I returned at 

 the earliest opportunity to tlie strange nest by 

 the beck-side, when a sight of its owner as she 

 hurriedly left her eggs made it j)lain that the domed 

 house of moss belonged to a Di^^per. I have on 

 many occasions since that gratified my desire to 

 spend a night with the birds, both on land and sea, 

 in winter and in summer, and have learned on 

 each occasion something it was both pleasant and 

 j^rofitable to know. 



I have been a bird lover and collector for uj)wards 

 of twenty years, and much of this work has been 

 written from my own specimens and note-books, 

 giving, of course, in the case of the bu'ds themselves, 

 due care to the parts that fade and alter after 

 death. I have also freely consulted and unreserved^ 

 acknowledge my indebtedness to such authorities 

 as YaiTell (revised and enlarged bj^ Messrs. Newton 



