314 THE DIPPER 



frequently observed to drop into the stream beneath and escape by 

 diving, but there is no evidence to show that they sought this way 

 deliberately. Indeed, the position of the nest would generally make it 

 difficult for unfledged young to avoid the water, as they would natur- 

 ally flutter downward. In one detailed account it is made clear that 

 contact with the water was, in fact, the result of accident. In this case 

 the parents had built in the wall of a tunnel. The latter, owing to 

 drought, was nearly entirely dry, so that there was no w r ater imme- 

 diately beneath the nest. The young on being disturbed fluttered down 

 the tunnel towards its mouth, where a considerable pool of water had 

 survived. " They did not at all appear to seek it ; on the contrary, 

 their flight seemed to be as aimless as that of any other fledgling would 

 have been in the same predicament. But one of them stumbled into 

 the pool. The effect was most curious. When the young bird touched 

 the water there was a moment of pause, as if the creature was surprised. 

 Then instantly there seemed to wake within it the sense of its heredi- 

 tary powers. Down it dived with all the facility of its parents, and 

 . . . was immediately lost to sight among some weeds, and so long did 

 it remain under water that I feared it must be drowned. But in due 

 time it appeared all right, and, being recaptured, was replaced in the 

 nest" 1 



The evidence goes, therefore, to show that the young dipper has 

 no inborn craving to take to the water, but that, when once introduced 

 to it, the instinct to swim either on or under it may be at once 

 awakened. 



In this connection, it is interesting to note that the adult birds 

 do not invariably dive in order to escape from their enemies, though 

 this would seem the safest course for them to pursue. A study of 

 the information available brings to light the following very curious 

 fact, that the dipper, when shot at, especially when wounded, or 

 when startled from its nest or roosting hole, will often dive to escape, 



1 Contemporary Revieiv, July 1875 (Duke of Argyll) ; quoted in Lloyd Morgan, Habit and 

 Instinct, p. 65. 



