THE BIRDS OF CUMBERLAND. 15 



Family CINCLID^. 

 Genus CINCLUS. 



C. Aquaticus. Dipper. 



The Dipper is to be found on nearly all our 

 northern streams, and has decidedly increased of 

 late 3'^ears. It is resident, and each pair occupies 

 its own portion of the river, though stragglers ap- 

 pear outside the breeding limits during winter. 

 The nest is composed of fine dried stems, lined with 

 oak leaves, and is placed within a circular dome of 

 moss, being itself saucer-shaped. We have never 

 found any feathers in the lining. The nest, considered 

 as a whole, appears large for the DijDper, and has an 

 entrance at the side. It is frequently placed under 

 the beams of bridges, or by the side of a waterfall ; 

 at other times it is attached to the face of a rock, 

 or is placed in the roots of a tree. Generally, the 

 nest is somewhat difficult of access, unless the stream 

 is low ; and here the Dipper is sometimes at fault, 

 for, building early as it does, when the rivers are 

 swollen by the winter's rain ; what are then safe 

 places become less so in the drier summer months. 

 Often before the young are fledged, the water falls 

 so much that there is a dry pathway between rock 

 and river.* 



The height of the nest above the water varies 

 considerably ; we have seen it so near the stream 

 as to be only two feet above low-water mark ; and, 



* In 1773, Miss Calwin of Penrith gave Pennant a drawing of a Dipper in 

 first feather, subsequently figured and described as the "Penrith Ouzel" 

 (Tour to Alston, p. 159. B. Zool, 1812, Vol. I, p. 399.) 



