256 BRITISH BIRDS. 
icicle-draped rocks as when the summer sun was scorching them with 
its meridian rays. The very fact of the stream being ever in troubled 
motion is the ‘cause of the perpetual residence of the Dipper on its 
banks; for the frost never binds its troubled waters, and thus his food 
is always accessible. A bird full of activity, he flies in rapid Kingfisher- 
like course, now alighting on the grassy banks, and then on the rocky 
boulders round which the foam-crested waters dash and boil in seemingly 
exhausted rage. Sometimes he skulks, and is flushed with greatest 
difficulty, often flying as though he were disabled; but should you be 
tempted by his seeming helplessness to pursue him, he takes good care to 
evade you, advancing in short flights it is true, and gradually going up or 
down stream for a certain distance, until all at once he refuses to be 
driven any further, flies off determinedly, and, passing high over your head, 
doubles back to his old quarters again, as if afraid to trespass too far on 
the hunting-grounds of the neighbouring pair of Dippers. Except in the 
breeding-season, the Dipper is for the most part a solitary bird, and is 
rarely found in the company of any other species. The pairs of birds 
appear to haunt a certain part of the stream, to which they strictly keep, 
and are but rarely observed in company. Should the ornithologist wish 
to observe the actions of the Dipper, he must approach him with the 
greatest caution; for he is a shy and wary bird. But ample means of 
concealment are at hand ; and by hiding behind one of the rocky boulders 
and remaining quiet and motionless you may observe his actions with 
ease, so long as his restless nature allows him to remain in your company. 
You probably see him first perched on a stone projecting out of the water 
a few inches, or, it may be, standing in the water itself. Warily he looks 
around, now crouching low as if fearful of discovery, now erect as if on 
the point of taking wing. Now he fearlessly enters the water, and, aided 
by his wings, floats buoyantly to land, where you see him running and 
hopping about, picking up the small insects found amongst the marshy — 
shores of the stream. Then he will sit for a few moments on the bank, 
motionless as a statue, and you cannot help admiring the purity of his 
breast, white as the driven snow. Suddenly, and doubtless to your 
surprise if you are unacquainted with his habits, he takes to the water 
and disappears under the surface, and, aided by his wings and feet, explores — 
the sand and moss-grown pebbles at the bottom of the pool, turning the 
little stones with his bilJ, in search of the various water-insects that form 
his food. He will proceed for a certain length of water, then return, 
sometimes swimming aided by his wings, and sometimes: darting under 
the surface, occasionally pausing to rest for a moment on a projecting 
rock. Sometimes the Dipper, seemingly for very sport, enters the boiling 
pool below the falls, or dives under the foam-crested waves of the tiny 
rapids ; and you may sometimes see him splashing in the water, as if trying 
