150 BIRD BIOGRAPHIES 



flight ; he builds a nest like the Wren, 

 is as much at home at the bottom of a 

 river as he is in the air ; he has a short, 

 but loud and beautiful song, and seems 

 quite at ease on a swaying twig, and will 

 sometimes be seen at the top of tall trees. 

 He belongs to the mountain streams, and 

 is not found in the flat country where 

 the rivers are sluggish. He must be 

 where the waters are running and falling 

 over rocks, in those spots where the 

 music of the hills comes from their 

 bubbling rivers. He loves the roar of 

 the falls, and delights to be amongst 

 their spray ; the dampest and the darkest 

 spots serve for his nest, and he goes to 

 the same old haunt in each succeeding 

 year. 



One morning as I passed the bridge 

 I saw both birds outside on the rocks, 

 and I guessed that the nest contained 

 young. There were four, I discovered, for 

 one of the eggs was unfertile ; I removed 



