Water Poachers. 177 



trace in any single instance of the presence of 

 ova of either trout or salmon could be found, 

 but only larvae of water-haunting insects, roughly 

 representing the four great families of trout-flies. 

 In opposition to the above, however, it must 

 be admitted that individual dippers have been 

 seen with tiny fish in their bills, and even to 

 feed their young ones upon them. Birds in 

 confinement have also been fed upon minnows, 

 but this penchant might be an acquired one. It 

 may be asserted, then, that the ouzel has been 

 known to eat fish, but that fish forms no chief 

 portion of his food ; and finally, that it would 

 be quite incorrect to describe it as a fish-eating 

 bird, and therefore as an enemy to salmon and 

 trout. The birds will not long stay where the 

 water is slow or logged ; they must have the 

 white foam, the torrent, the pebbly reaches, and 

 the shallows. In fact, they could not obtain 

 their food under conditions other than these. 

 The mountain burns abound with various aquatic 

 insects and their larvae, and in limestone districts 

 in innumerable fresh-water molluscs. As already 

 shown, not only is the ouzel innocent of de- 

 stroying eggs of salmon and trout, but it is in- 

 directly beneficial to a fishery. It is well known 

 that among the chief enemies to spawn are the 

 larvae known as caddisworms, that of the dragon- 

 fly, May-fly and stone-fly, and also of the various 



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