28 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



question was more like a Wren in shape and action, 

 and flew like a Kingfisher. This would seem con- 

 clusive ; but it is singular that this solitary Dipper, 

 if it really was one, should have found its way to 

 our quiet brook. 



I have had many opportunities of observing the 

 Dipper in the north of England and in Ireland, and 

 from a study of its habits, and an examination of 

 several specimens which I have shot, I am led to 

 believe that the character of this pretty bird has 

 been greatly detracted from by those who assert that 

 it lives on the ova of fish, trout, and salmon. That 

 the Dipper may occasionally feed on ova, or even 

 on small fry, when an opportunity occurs, I do not 

 deny, but I consider this the exception and not the 

 rule. The food more frequently consists of water- 

 beetles {Dytiscidae) and their larvse, water-spiders 

 [Argyroneta], dragon-flies (Agrion) and their pupse, 

 the larvae of caddis flies, and small mollusca ; such, 

 at least, was the nature of the food in all the speci- 

 mens which I examined. 



Missel Thrush, Turdus viscivorus. A common 

 resident, but a shy bird, never admitting a near 

 approach except when the cold of winter has tamed 

 it. Unlike many of its congeners, it is seldom found 

 feeding under hedges, but keeps rather to the open 

 fields. It usually builds in the fork of a tree, pre- 

 ferring one tliat is ivy-covered, and it is one of the 

 earliest birds to commence nesting. Some authors 



