THE DIPPER. 



song, which I at once recognised as that 

 of the Dipper. I waited on the foot- 

 bridge until it was light enough to see 

 the bird standing on a moss-clad boulder 

 in the middle of a dark, glassy pool, and 

 shall never forget the beauty of the 

 morning light breaking on the water, 

 the stillness of the scene amidst the lonely 

 hills, nor the sweetness of that exquisite 

 little carol sent out like a flood of joy 

 on the crisp, winter air. 



The call note of the species is zit or 

 c hit, chit, uttered both when the bird is on 

 the wing and whilst curtseying and dip- 

 ping in its own quaint way on some stone 

 half submerged in a brawling stream. 



The bird builds its nest in all kinds of 

 positions, but never away from flowing 

 water. It may be found in crevices of 

 rock, in holes beneath stone bridges, on 

 large moss-grown boulders in or on the 

 bank of a stream, behind the falling waters 

 of a cascade, and in trees overhanging 

 rivers. It is quite a large structure for 

 the size of the builder, and is made of 

 moss securely woven and felted together 

 on the outside and lined with rootlets, 

 soft dead grass, and leaves placed layer 

 upon layer inside. It is dome-shaped, 

 with the entrance hole placed so low 

 117 



