54 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



points in the nesting and other habits of well-known 

 birds that bear a faint resemblance. Our common 

 pewee, for instance, breeds in excessively damp 

 places occasionally. I remember having my atten- 

 tion called by the miller to a pewee's nest that was 

 so near the edge of the water-fall that it was difficult 

 to see how it remained dry when there was an exces- 

 sive flow, or when the wind was directly north. The 

 miller told me he had seen the mist so dense that the 

 bird was lost to sight in it going and coming from 

 the nest. I remember, too, finding a nest on a ledge 

 of rock, overhung by another, from which the waters 

 of a spring were trickling. This falling water was 

 too great in volume and the bird too large for it to 

 fly between the drops on coming from or going to 

 its nest. 



Winter-wrens, notwithstanding the time of year, 

 seem quite indifferent to water, and more than thrust 

 their bills into the shallow brooks, and explore 

 damp, dripping, gloomy caverns where all is sodden, 

 and yet come to the light again with every feather 

 dry and a chirp of satisfaction at their beak's end. 

 Swallows, as we all know, do not object to a spray 

 bath, and I have a strong inclination to believe I 

 have seen our common spotted sand-piper deliber- 

 ately dive ; still, I am not sure ; but enough has been 

 seen to show that the habits of the dipper have come 

 about quite naturally, and have nothing marvellous 

 about them. 



