20 Among the Birds in Northern Shires. 



Yorkshire streams during winter when icicles a 

 couple of feet in length have draped the rocks, or 

 when the surroundino- country-side has been covered 

 deep with snow. Unfortunately, almost everywhere 

 the Dipper somehow has got a bad name — a repu- 

 tation amongst anglers for destroying the spawn of 

 sporting fishes. Like the poor Owl, and not a few 

 other feathered outcasts, he is universally persecuted 

 for these imaginary misdeeds. But in reality he is 

 one of the actual preservers of the ova he is accused 

 of eating, for his food largely consists of larva:; of 

 certain insects ^yhich in that stage of their existence 

 are particularly destructive to the spawn. We have 

 dissected a great many Dippers at one time and 

 another from many different localities, and have 

 always been much impressed with the uniform simi- 

 larity of the contents of their stomachs — a little grit 

 and the remains of insects and worms. W'e have, 

 however, known the Dipper in exceptional cases 

 to prey upon small fish, but are convinced, by the 

 experience of a lifetime, that such food is taken so 

 rarely as scarcely to deserve mention at all. When- 

 ever we pause to watch the aquatic gambols of this 

 sprightly bird, we feel less inclined to wonder why 

 a past generation of naturalists included it amongst 

 the water-fowl. The way it enters the quiet pools 

 or the swifter running reaches of the stream, dashing 

 beneath the surface from some water-encircled stone. 



