62 



CINCLUS EUROP.EUS. 





her at liberty. In the course of a few hours however she re- 

 turned, and, unmoved by this unusual treatment, fed her 

 little ones as anxiously and carefully as ever, and although de- 

 prived of her partner, brought them up to maturity. On the 

 banks of the river Avon, about a mile and a half below the 

 bridge of Linlithgow, I last summer discovered a nest in 

 rather a curious situation. It was built in an angle between 



two fragments of rocks under 

 a small cascade, and although 

 the water fell upon part of the 

 dome, the compactness with 

 which it was put together ren- 

 dered it impenetrable. 



" When the young Dippers 

 are nearly ripe, the old ones 

 are very shy and difficult to be 

 caught. In a nest which was 

 built in a mossy bank project- 

 inw over Boarbaughlaw Water, 

 in May 1835, I attempted to 

 get a pair of them, but did not 

 succeed. The young were so 

 voracious, that as soon as their 

 parents appeared, they popped 

 ^'®' ^^^' their heads two or three inches 



out of the nest. To prevent them from doing so, I tied a string 

 round their legs, and fastened them to the back part of it, and 

 then placed a hair gin in front. Of this mode of procedure they 

 were however so suspicious, that even after it had been re- 

 moved, rather than they would venture to give them food, 

 they allowed them to perish with hunger. I have twice tried 

 this experiment since, but with no better success." 



Several authors have mentioned that the young, although 

 yet unfledged, will, if disturbed, leave the nest and scramble 

 into the water, diving, and emerging at a distance. This I have 

 not had an opportunity of observing, and therefore quote the 

 following statement of Montagu on the subject : " The young 

 were nearly full feathered, but incapable of flight, and the 



