EUROPEAN DIPPER. 



61 



hole in their side, resembling that of the Common Wren. Tn 

 the interior part, the under layer is lined with the stalks of 

 strong grass, and the upper one, in all the nests that I have 

 seen, with the leaves of the beech or the oak. To the place where 

 these birds have once taken up their residence, they are strong- 

 ly attached. In the hole of an old wall at the back lade of 



Livingston mill-dam, for a considerable time, I have observed 

 one of their nests. Mr Meikle, the miller, told me that a 

 pair of them have built in it for thirty-one successive years, 

 and that they generally had three broods in the season, and 

 four birds in each of them. Although the nest was within a 

 foot of the waterfall, which even sometimes passed over it, 

 they nevertheless flew in and out with the greatest apparent 

 ease. I am acquainted with a boy, who told me that he has 

 taken one repeatedly out of her nest, and after having replaced 

 her, she continued to sit upon her eggs. Being anxious to 

 procure a good specimen of the female, I caught one whilst 

 sitting upon her brood. As several of the feathers of her 

 wings and tail were much worn, I pulled them out, and set 



