170 Northern Observations of Inland Birds 



many waterfalls, and with the prolific growths of hearts- 

 tongue ferns and rock plants that festooned every shelf. 

 If one did not mind climbing and getting wet, one could 

 traverse the entire length of the cutting, and many a happy 

 day have I spent in its gloomy depths, studying the habits 

 of the wild birds and the otters for which it formed a 

 natural sanctuary. The nests of the dippers were, I say, 

 very numerous, though usually they were placed just out 

 of reach. I remember how eerily the shrill call-notes 

 of the old birds used to echo along the passageway. 



Many young birds require little training from their 

 parents. They take naturally to the habits on which 

 they depend in later life, but the parent dippers may 

 often be seen teaching their children how to find their 

 food, flying with them from rock to rock, encouraging 

 and calling ; and these little family gatherings are very 

 pretty to watch. The young birds leave the nest early, 

 full of all the joy of life, and young and old together 

 seem so much to rejoice in each other's company, and to 

 have so much to do, that there is no time left in their 

 happy lives for fear and care. 



Truly the dipper is an inspiration, for like the true 

 jester it finds mirth in its own merriment when all the 

 world is dull. Not long ago, one dripping autumn 

 evening, I paused at a small stream in order to look 

 down from the bridge and see whether the salmon had 

 returned to their favourite resting places. But it was so 

 dark and dim that I could not see below the surface. 

 The very trees were drooping, and the cold drip-drip-drip 

 from their branches seemed the utterance of their misery. 

 Cat ice hung about the rocks, and there was no sound in 

 all the land save the metallic murmur of the stream. 



But presently I heard a song — a rollicking, heedless 

 little song, like that of a tipsy skylark, and there, seated 

 on a boulder below me, I saw him. He was warbling 



