1 64 ODD HOURS WITH NATURE 



were not there. In favourable circumstances it 

 is possible to follow its subaquatic perambulations, 

 when it is seen to walk ,at the bottom of the 

 water searching for food, to all appearance as 

 much at home there as a blackbird under the goose- 

 berry bushes. 



There is a mystery about this submerging power 

 of the dipper that has never been explained. Like 

 every other live bird, it is lighter than water. 

 How, then, does it keep itself down? The ortho- 

 dox divers keep under by using the power of their 

 propeller-like feet. In other words, their under- 

 water course is a swimming course, and none of 

 them walks on the bottom. That is just what 

 the dipper does, and though it can swim in a 

 fashion on the surface, its under-water movement 

 is not a swim. Indeed its feet, which are the 

 normal feet of a passerine bird, are not in the 

 least adapted for such a performance. It is ia 

 problem, then, how it gets down, and how it keeps 

 down once it is there. The surmise has been 

 made that it grips the bottom with its claws, but 

 it is not an easy surmise to prove ; and I have 

 seen a dipper walk into a pool with a smooth 

 rock bottom and emerge a couple of yards from 

 where it entered. There was nothing but smooth, 

 water-worn rock for it to hold to. 



The dipper's attachment to the stream is stronger 

 than that of the angler himself, for it never leaves 

 it. It seems to dislike flying over dry land, and 

 in its low, rapid flights it follows the course of 

 the stream, taking all its bends, not even lopping 

 off a sharp one. Even when pursued by a hawk 



