CHAPTER IV 



SOME BIRDS OF THE STREAM ^ 



Chiefly characteristic of these is the cheery Dipper, 

 every half-mile of water boasting at least one pair of 

 these hardy birds. How trim they look as mid- 

 stream they sit on some projecting boulder of rock, 

 looking for all the world like gigantic Wrens as they 

 jerk themselves backwards and forwards ! Presently 

 one of them dives, and fortunate the observer who 

 may chance to be above him when thus engaged, 

 more especially should the water be clear, for he will 

 be seen literally to walk along the bottom of the 

 pool. It is a mystery to us how a bird constructed as 

 the Dipper is can perform such antics, yet it is none 

 the less a fact. 



His nest we may find in many situations, most 

 frequently perhaps where an angle is formed by two 

 rocks, and should the spray from a waterfall drench 

 it so much the better. No fear of its damping the 

 interior of the nest, for the mossy exterior is quite 

 waterproof ; indeed, so closely woven is it, that some 

 force is required to tear it in pieces, and any one may 



' The stream referred to is the Wye. 

 55 



