170 BIRDS OF THE ROCKIES 



placed right back of a cascade, so that the birds had to 

 dash through a curtain of spray to reach their cot. 

 They also were feeding their young, and I could see 

 them standing on a rock beneath the shelf, tilting their 

 bodies and scanning me narrowly before diving into the 

 cleft where the nest was hidden. This nest, being placed 

 back of the falls, could not be reached. 



In Bear Creek canon I discovered another inaccessible 

 nest, which was placed in a fissure at the very foot of 

 the falls and only an inch or two above the agitated 

 waters. There must have been a cavity running back 

 into the rock, else the nest would have been kept in a 

 soggy condition all the time. 



Perhaps the most interesting dipper's nest I found 

 was one at the celebrated Seven Falls in the south 

 Cheyenne Canon. On the face of the cliff by the side 

 of the lowest fall there was a cleft, in which the nest 

 was placed, looking like a large bunch of moss and grass. 

 My glass brought the structure so near that I could 

 plainly see three little heads protruding from the door- 

 way. There were a dozen or more people about the 

 falls at the time, who made no attempt at being quiet, 

 and yet the parent birds flew fearlessly up to the nest 

 with tidbits in their bills, and were greeted with loud, 

 impatient cries from three hungry mouths, which were 

 opened wide to receive the food. The total plunge of 

 the stream over the Seven Falls is hundreds of feet, and 



