THE DIPPER 263 



Ouzel is to be seen constantly at an elevation of over 3500 

 feet above sea-level. I am doubtful whether the birds nest 

 at this great altitude ; they probably rear their young in 

 a waterfall 500 feet below, but even here they are beyond 

 the range of the Red Grouse and have the Ptarmigan 

 as their companions. They evidently find good feeding 

 on the higher ground. Here the burn is a succession of 

 sandy pools — an ideal spawning ground of salmon or trout 

 one would say, yet fish are unknown, for the falls below 

 offer an insurmountable barrier, and thus the food of the 

 Dippers must consist of aquatic insects. 



Amongst anglers in general the Water Ouzel is blamed 

 for much damage done by it to the ova of trout and salmon, 

 but such blame cannot, I think, be justified from the facts. 

 Some time ago five Dippers were killed on a certain river 

 at a season when the trout and salmon had just spawned, 

 in order to discover whether the birds had been feeding 

 on the ova of these fish. These investigations were en- 

 tirely favourable to the Water Ouzels. In no instance 

 were ova found in the birds, only water beetles and aquatic 

 larvae. Still to those who look only superficially, the mere 

 fact that the Water Ouzel is so often to be seen swimming 

 and diving near the spawning beds of salmon is sufficient 

 to condemn the " Water Crow." 



Though the Dipper is so absolutely at home on the 

 water it never dives in the true sense of the word. It 

 flies out into the middle of a burn or river and then 

 plunges in like a Guillemot, slightly opening its wings as 

 it does so. Under water it is able to move rapidly, 

 using its wings to propel itself to the different parts of 

 the pool it may visit in quest of food. However pro- 

 tracted its stay under water, its plumage remains dry 

 and silky, and is apparently impervious to wet, though 

 this is not the case with the newly flown young. 



The bird is lighter than water, and so it is not easy to 



