316 THE DIPPER 



heard to do under very unusual circumstances. Two birds had 

 been battering each other for some minutes with wings and beak 

 upon the surface of a pool, when one seized its opponent by the 

 crown of the head, which it then proceeded with great persever- 

 ance to duck repeatedly under the water. The bird thus treated 

 sought to express its feelings whatever they were, defiance or 

 terror or despair by bursting into song whenever its head re- 

 appeared above the surface. The end of the combat was not wit- 

 nessed, as the onlookers' dogs, with the usual meddling imbecility of 

 their kind, intervened and scared both dippers away, and so our tale 

 must be left unfinished. 1 



1 Field, vol. Ixi. p. 05 (James Carter). 



