08 MACGILLIVRAY ON THE DIPPER .S HABITS 



by the wings and legs.' This tumbling, however, is observed 

 only when it is engaged in a strong current, and its appearance 

 is greatly magnified by the unequal refraction caused by the 

 varying inequalities of the surface of the water. When search- 

 ing for food, it does not proceed to great distances under water; 

 but, alighting on some spot, sinks, and soon reappears in the 

 immediate neighbourhood, when it either dives again, or rises on 

 wing to drop somewhere else on the stream, or settle on <'i 

 stone. Often from a shelving crag or large stone it may be 

 seen making short incursions into the water, running out with 

 quiet activity, and presently bobbing up to the surface, and 

 regaining its perch by swimming or wading. The assertion of 

 its walking in the water, on the bottom, which some persons 

 have ventured, is not made good by observation nor counte- 

 nanced by reason and the nature of things. The Dipper is by 

 no means a walking bird : even on land I have never seen it 

 move more than a few stei)s, which it accomplished by a kind 

 of leaping motion. Its short legs and curved claws are very 

 ill adapted for running, but admirably calculated for securing 

 a steady footing on slippery stones, whether above or beneath 

 the surface of the water. Like the Kingfisher, it often remains 

 a long time perched on a stone, but in most other respects its 

 habits are very dissimilar. . . . On being wounded the Dipper 

 commonly plunges into the water, flies beneath its surface to 

 the shore, and conceals itself among the stones or under the 

 bank. In fact, on all such occasions, if enough of life remains, 

 it is sure to hide itself so that one requires to look sharply 

 after it. In this respect it greatly resembles the Common 

 Gallinule." 



The same agreeable writer speaks of the food of the European 

 Dipper as consisting of molluscs and beetles. " 1 have opened 

 a great number of individuals at all seasons of the year, but 

 have never found any other substances in the stomach than 

 Lymnecc, A)icyli, Ooleoptera, and grains of gravel " — a diet 

 which he considers to account satisfactorily for the bird's sub- 

 aqueous excursions. He denies that there is any proof of its 

 feeding upon the ova or fry of fish, notwithstanding the Hvsser- 

 tions of authors to that effect, which have, in many cases, led 

 to its unmerited persecution. Yet there is no doubt that it is 

 somewhat piscivorous ; for at least one instance is i-ecorded of 

 its having been seen with a fish in its month. {Saxby, "Zool- 

 ogist", xxi, 1863, p. 8631.) 



