THE DIPPER 305 



dipper as his friend, and to turn a deaf ear to the charges made 

 against it, unless he is given proof positive and irrefutable that any 

 individual bird is in the habit of feeding on live fry. And if a par- 

 ticular dipper is convicted, that does not justify an argument from 

 the particular to the general, as an excuse for a general slaughter. 1 



The account of the feeding habits of the dipper may conclude 

 with an interesting observation by the late Mr. H. A. Macpherson, 

 who saw one " hopping like a thrush over the grassy sods upon the 

 bank, now upright, now wading into the shallows of some soppy 

 ground, frequently inserting its bill into loosened soil." The bird was 

 thus engaged because the river it frequented was flooded and running 

 fast and high. Its proceeding may be regarded either as an intel- 

 ligent adaptation to accidental conditions or a reversion to ancestral 

 habits ; probably to a combination of both. The most remarkable 

 feature in it is the " hopping," upon which Mr. Macpherson, a very 

 reliable observer, lays some stress. Why should the dipper hop like 

 a thrush on grass, and run like a starling on the rocks ? We shall 

 find later other inconsistencies in its behaviour just as inexplicable. 2 



A dipper seldom quits the reach of stream it has chosen to regard 

 as its own, and in flying up and down it prefers to follow all the 

 bends, though it will not hesitate occasionally to cut a corner, if some 

 unwelcome obstacle intervenes, such as a prying ornithologist. During 

 the autumn and winter it is to be found singly and in pairs, the 

 former being no doubt unmated birds. The statement often made 

 that at these seasons the species is solitary may be explained by the 

 fact that when a pair frequent the same stretch of water they are 

 frequently apart. This is also the case even in the breeding season. 3 



1 The account of the dipper's method of catching and eating fish is taken from the 

 Zoologisches Garten, 1880, pp. 65-70 (K. Miiller). How it manages to tear a fish in two is not 

 explained. See on the general question of its food the "Preliminary Classified Notes" at the 

 head of this chapter. 



1 H. A. Macpherson, Fauna of Lakeland, p. 103. 



3 Mr. F. C. B. Jourdaiu has records of the dipper in pairs every month from December 

 onward to the breeding-time, also for October and September. Mr. Charles Lee, of Letchworth, 

 has a further record for October 29. In the Zoologist, 1844, p. 646, there is a record for January 

 (J. J. Briggs). Macgillivray (History of British Birds, vol. ii.), who watched the bird closely, 

 also states that it is " generally seen in pairs, sometimes singly." Mr. Jourdain has noted that 



