THE DIPPER 135 



France and Germany, and perhaps in the Iberian 

 Peninsula ; but south of those Hmits it is replaced 

 by Cinclus albicollis, and north of them by Cinclus 

 melanogaster, the latter occurring in the eastern 

 counties of England as an abnormal migrant. 



There can be little doubt that the Dippers found 

 under ordinary circumstances in the British Islands 

 are perfectly sedentary ; they have no cause to wan- 

 der, and their haunts are tenable the year throughout. 

 The haunts of this remarkable bird are the swift- 

 flowing mountain streams, the rock-strewn, birch and 

 alder-fringed torrents of the uplands and the moors. 

 This species shows little or no partiality for trees, it 

 is for the most part terrestrial or aquatic in its habits, 

 and delights to live on the rocky banks of the 

 stream, flitting from rock to rock before the observer, 

 or flashing past him in rapid flight to a distant 

 retreat, uttering a shrill double chit, it, as it goes. 

 We do not think the Dipper ever seeks to elude an 

 enemy by taking refuge in the water unless wounded ; 

 so that in order to watch its aquatic movements 

 we must stealthily approach its haunts and watch it 

 unawares. The result, to say the least, is a very 

 startling one, for after watching a bird for a {^\^ 

 moments standing on the bank or a water-encircled 

 stone, you will as likely as not see it either drop into 

 the stream or run from the bank and disappear 

 below the surface. Here aided by wings and feet it 

 explores the bed of the stream in quest of food, 



