166 BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



its beak and flitted away minus the tidbit it had held 

 in its bill. 



Ah ! my propitious stars shone on me that day with 

 special favor. I had found not only the water-ousel 

 itself, but also its nest. Suddenly water-ousel number 

 two, the mate of number one, appeared on -the scene, 

 dipped, scanned me closely, flew to the slippery wall, 

 darted to the cranny, and deposited its morsel, as its 

 spouse had done. This time I heard the chirping of 

 the youngsters. Before examining the nest I decided 

 to watch the performances of the parent birds, which 

 soon cast off all the restraint caused for a moment by 

 my presence, taking me, no doubt, for the ordinary 

 sightseer who overlooks them altogether. 



Again and again the birds plunged into the churning 

 flood at the foot of the falls, sometimes remaining under 

 water what seemed a long while, and always coming to 

 the surface with a delicacy for the nestlings. They 

 were able to dip into the swift, white currents and 

 wrestle with them without being washed away. Of 

 course, the water would sometimes carry them down 

 stream, but never more than a few inches, and never to 

 a point where they could be injured. They were per- 

 fect masters of the situation. They simply slipped in 

 and out like living chunks of cork. Their coats were 

 waterproof, all they needed to do being to shake off the 

 crystal drops now and then. 



