212 THE WATER OUSEL. 



sionally some of the Sparrows show fight in return, and oblige 

 their assailant either to share the provender with them or to 

 retire from the scene altogether and leave them in full possession. 

 True to the life is Thomson's picture of the Robin when he 

 first ventures inside the cottage door to pick up his allowance of 

 crumbs : 



" Then hopping o'er the floor, 



Eyes all the smiling family askance, 



And pecks, and starts, and wonders where he is." 



These familiar habits of the Eobin, combined with its sprightly 

 airs, have made it a general favourite wherever it is known, 

 and have thus procured for it in almost every coimtry of Europe 

 some familiar and endearing epithet. The Eobin is in truth the 

 first and most friendly of all our feathered friends. 



One of the most curious of our song-birds is the Dipper, or 

 Water Ouzel (Cinclus aquaticus), which, although closely related 

 to the Thrush and Blackbird, is almost as much an aquatic bird 

 as any of those properly so called. It is always found in the 

 immediate neighbourhood of water, and delights especially in the 

 clear and rapid streams of mountainous districts, where it is 

 commonly to be seen perched upon some block of stone rising from 

 the centre of the current, perpetually dipping its head and jerking 

 its tail much after the fashion of the little Wren. "I do not 

 know," says Mr. St. John, " among our common birds so 

 amusing and interesting a little fellow as the Water-ouzel, 

 whether seen during the time of incubation or during the winter 

 months, when he generally betakes himself to some burn near the 

 sea, less likely to be frozen over than those more inland. In the 

 burn near this place there are certain stones, each of which is 

 always occupied by one particular Water-ousel : there he sits all 

 day with his snow-white breast turned towards you, jerking his 

 apology for a tail, and occasionally darting off for a hundred yards 

 or so, with a quick, rapid, but straightforward flight ; then down 

 he plumps into the water, remains under for perhaps a minute or 

 two ; and then flies back to his usual station." 



There has long been a dispute as to the precise behaviour of 

 the Dipper during the time which it thus passes under water. 

 On the one side it is maintained that the bird nms about at the 

 bottom of the stream, much as it might do on dry ground ; 

 while on the other side it is contended that such a procedure is 



