Bird Notes and News 



100 



place than the larva slowly moves forth, 

 glides beneath the body of its intended 

 victim and seldom fails to make a fatal 

 stroke.' To the list of insect foes may be 

 added the armies of dragon flies, whose 

 savage larvae are to be found everywhere. 

 The weapons of these larvae are, if possible, 

 more formidable than those of water-beetles ; 

 and their powers of locomotion are greater ; 

 for they dart rapidly from place to place, and 

 are strong enough to attack not only the 

 delicate and helpless new-bom fry, but even 

 fish much more advanced in power and size. 



" A recent number of Bird Notes and News 

 draws attention to the fact that ' anglers are 

 declaring war ' on the Dipper. They say 

 that it consumes large quantities of salmon 

 and trout ova. 



" I do not propose to enter into the habits 

 of this fascinating bird, for they are already 

 well known ; but would ask for a careful 

 consideration of the opinions of the following 

 authorities respecting the Dipper's food, 



"In his 'British Birds,' A. G. Butler 

 remarks : — 



" ' The food of the Dipper consists largely 

 of insects and their larvae ; many of which 

 such as caddis worms, larvae of dragon 

 flies, and water-beetles, it seeks at the 

 bottom of the water, thus proving itself 

 the greatest friend of the pisciculturist 

 by devouring the insects which prey upon 

 fish spawn and young fry : it also eats 

 spiders, small mollusca, worms and seeds of 

 grasses. Of course the ignorant fish pre- 

 server, seeing the Dipper diving under water 

 among his young fry, comes to the conclusion 

 that this watch dog is a wolf and shoots it.' 



" Morris says ditto. 



*' In Dresser we find this : — 



" ' Mr. R. E. Alston, who has carefully 

 examined the stomachs of specimens shot 

 by him in Scotland, informs me that they 

 invariably contained aquatic insects and 



their larvae ; and sometimes freshwater 

 shrimps : and Mr. Robert Gray says that 

 instead of doing harm by destroying the 

 spawn of fish, they act as the angler's best 

 friend by devouring immense quantities of the 

 larvae of dragon flies and water-beetles, 

 creatures which are knoun to live to a 

 great extent on spawn and even newly- 

 hatched fry of both trout and salmon.' 



" Yarrell tells us that — 



" ' Mr. Macgillivray, who has examined 

 the contents of the birds on various occasions, 

 has found only beetles and the animals of 

 freshwater shells belonging to the genera 

 Lymnaa and Aneylus : the larvae of various 

 Ephemera and Phryganea have also been 

 mentioned and those of other aquatic 

 insects. In some parts of Scotland this 

 bird is destroyed by every device from an 

 idea that it feeds on salmon spawn : but 

 this has not been established.' 



" Even were salmon or trout ova occasion- 

 ally found in the stomach of the Dipper, 

 the enormous amount of good it does in 

 destrojdng the insects I have just denounced 

 vastly outweighs its supposed sins. 



"It is sometimes said that this bird eats 

 fish. Have any of your readers seen one 

 emerge from a stream with a fish in its 

 mouth ? I certainly never have. But I 

 have often examined its droppings on a 

 mid-stream stone. They invariably con- 

 sisted of the remains of water insects : and 

 there were no scales of fish. It is however 

 on record that an individual has been found 

 choked by a millers-thumb, a sluggish fish 

 which trusts for safety to lying motionless 

 among weeds and pebbles in the water. 

 Fish-eating is a rare experience with the 

 Dipper ; far too .rare to admit of its con- 

 demnation. If fish were its usual food it 

 must disgorge the bones like the kingfisher ; 

 this it does not do. 



" The pohcy of persecuting the Dipper 

 out of love for the trout is a mistaken one." 



