38 HANDBOOK OF BRITISH BIRDS 



Hampshire (ZooL, 1882, p. 109). An exceptional 

 case of a Dipper's nest in a tree is mentioned 

 {Zool, 1888, p. 309). 



As to its alleged destruction of Salmon and Trout 

 ova, the observations of St. John, Colquhoun, and Sir 

 James Maitland leave no room for doubt that the 

 charge is true. But, as St. John remarked, it attacks 

 Trout spawn more frequently, and in this v^ay does 

 some good, for the most deadly enemy to Salmon 

 ova is the larger burn Trout. The Dipper feeds, 

 moreover, on the destructive larvae of aquatic beetles, 

 as well as on fresh-water limpets. 



Attempts have sometimes been made to rear 

 Dippers from the nest, and the late Mr. A. D. 

 Bartlett published some useful remarks on his 

 successful treatment of the young in captivity 

 [Zool, 1878, p. 293). 



Fam. TURDID^. 



MISTLETOE THRUSH. Turdus viscivorus, Linnaeus. 

 PL 6, tig. 4. Length, 11 in.; wing, 5-75 in. ; tarsus, 

 1-3 in. 



Resident, and during the last forty years has 

 greatly increased in numbers. (See Beckwith, 

 "Birds of Shropshire," 1879, p. 6, footnote.) 



In the autumn Mistle Thrushes assemble in 

 flocks, and from this circumstance inexperienced 

 observers mistake them for Fieldfares, and report 

 the appearance of the latter often many weeks 

 before the date of their usual arrival. Although 



