19 

 Case 156. 



DIPPER {Cinclus aquaticus). 

 Local names : Bessy Ducker or Dowker, Water Ouzel. 



A resident species found throughout the British Islands, wherever 

 there are hills and rapid streams. It not only swims and dives with 

 equal facility but may be seen walking along the bottom, searching for 

 the water insects on which it feeds. The nest, always placed close to 

 the water's edge, is made of moss and leaves, and is oval in form with 

 an entrance at the side. Four to six white eggs (see British Bird Egg 

 Cabinet, dravwer 2) are laid early in the year, and sometimes three 

 broods are reared in the season. 



PIED WAGTAIL {MotaciUa lugubris). 

 Local name : Water Wagtail. 



This is a common and generally distributed species throughout 

 the British Islands, especially in the breeding season, but a partial 

 migration takes place in autumn and winter. Flies and aquatic insects 

 form its principal food. The nest, made of moss, dried grass and 

 fibrous roots, lined with hair and feathers, is usually placed in a cleft 

 in a bank or some hole in a wall or rotten tree. Four to six eggs, 

 spotted and streaked with ash brown (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, 

 drawer 3), are laid towards the end of April. Two broods are frequently 

 reared in a season. 



Case 157. 



KINGFISHER {Alcedo ispida). 



A resident species, common about streams and lakes and on many 

 parts of the coast of England, but less common in Scotland and Ireland. 

 Its food consists of small fish, Crustacea and insects. The fish are 

 seized by a sudden plunge from a convenient perch above the water. 

 The nesting place, which is a hole in the bank, is excavated upwards, to 

 prevent flooding, for two or three feet, and terminating in a chamber. 

 No nest is constructed, but on the floor, especially in old nesting places, 

 scales and fish bones are often found, which have been cast up by the 

 young of previous broods. The eggs, from six to nine in number, are 

 rounded, white and highly glossy (see British Bird Egg Cabinet, 

 drawer 6). In the group exhibited part of the bank has been removed 

 to show the internal construction of the burrow, with the eggs lying 

 in the enlarged end. 



Case 158. 



BEARDED TIT or REEDLING {Panurus hiarmicus). 



This resident species is now almost confined to the Norfolk Broads, 

 the draining of the reedy fens and meres having destroyed many of its 



