262 HILL BIRDS OF SCOTLAND 



order to reach their young. Sometimes a stone in mid- 

 stream is the site chosen, and occasionally the branch of a 

 tree. A curious occurrence came to my notice recently. A 

 fisherman discovered a Dipper's nest built on a stone and, 

 imagining it to be merely a lump of moss, picked it up. On 

 discovering his mistake he set the nest down again, but 

 not quite in its original situation, and when I saw it the 

 birds were still in possession, though it seemed that a 

 strong wind might well blow it into the bed of the burn, 

 as it was now entirely without foundation. 



The eggs of the Water Ouzel are pure white in colour. 

 From four to six is the usual number found in a clutch. 

 The parent bird doing duty on the nest is a close sitter, 

 and when disturbed flies rapidly away, uttering its alarm 

 cry. After a fortnight of brooding the young are hatched, 

 and another three weeks or so of unstinted feeding sees 

 them able to leave the nest. If they are disturbed before 

 they are ready to fly they will at times drop into the water, 

 for they are able to dive and swim while as yet lacking the 

 power of flight. 



When very young they are remarkable in that they 

 have the fleshy gape on the sides of the mouth dilated to 

 an extent not observable in other birds ; the inside of the 

 mouth, too, is very beautifully coloured. 



The Water Ouzel is said to pair for life. Two broods 

 are sometimes reared in the course of a season and possibly 

 even three at times. I doubt, however, whether the 

 second brood is a regular occurrence in the Highlands. 

 Some years ago I came across a nest of the Dipper on 

 which a Spotted Fly Catcher had built her nest. As 

 far as could be seen — it was late in the season when I 

 found the double nest — both birds had hatched off their 

 broods safely, but the Fly Catcher had left behind an 

 infertile egg which served to identify her nest. There is a 

 certain hill burn, which I know well, where the Water 



