190 THE DIPPER. 
ample amends for their little depredations, by pre- 
venting the increase of rats and frogs. Little, in- 
deed, must be those depredations: for fishermen 
are allowed to come here, during the summer, in 
unrestricted numbers, and the herons have their 
nests in the trees which hang over the water ; still 
there is always a most plentiful supply of fish. 
If country gentlemen would grant protection to 
the heron, it would be to us, in some sort, what the 
stork formerly was, and now is, to our Continental 
neighbours; namely, an ornamental and a useful bird, 
Though it certainly would not be so domestic as the 
stork, still the protection afforded it would tend | 
considerably to change its present habits. Nothing 
but the roar of guns, the prejudices of pond-owners, 
and the barbarity of gamekeepers, has rendered the 
heron a shy, degraded, and devoted bird. 
THE DIPPER. 
«Mr. Waterton will not, I believe, allow that birds ever 
oil their feathers; but I would wish to ask of him, how he 
accounts for the fact that, while the feathers of a thrush 
or robin, if they have only fallen into the water for a few 
minutes, become totally spoiled, as far as the purposes of 
stuffing are concerned, those of the dipper may remain half an 
hour or more in the water without receiving any damage?” 
(Rev. F. 0. Morris, in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. viii. p. 375.) 
I cannot account for the fact stated by the Rev. 
Mr. Morris. If he infers that birds oil their plumage 
