THE ANGLER'S SOUVENIR. 



215 



During a severe frost the kingfisher has been 

 known to be frozen by the claws to his perch, by 

 the water dripping from it after a dive, and to 

 die. What a sad end for the beautiful bird ! 



Next to the kingfisher, the greatest ornament to 

 our streams is the dipper. On some boulder that 

 stems the eddying current it rests, its white breast 

 facing you, and its tail jerking like the robin's. 

 It dives into the water, and reappears a yard or 

 two off; then flies to another stone, repeating the 

 process ; and then, as you approach, it flies onward 

 with a straight flight like that of the kingfisher. 

 In a short time you again come up with it, and 

 yon may so keep the same bird before you for a 

 couple of miles. The dipper is a lonely bird, fre- 

 quenting sequestered and secluded spots, and more 

 than two are seldom seen together. 



It nests very early in the year, and builds a 

 large, fine nest, after the pattern of the wren's, 

 domed, and with a small hole as entrance. It is 

 placed in a crevice of a rock, between the roots 

 of trees that overhang the river, and oftentimes 

 in a hole in a wheel, or rock, in the very splash of 

 the waterfall. The eggs are five in number, pure 

 white, very pointed, and somewhat less in size 

 than those of a thrush. Like the kingfisher, the 

 dipper reappears year after year at the same nest ; 

 and when one pair dies, another will take up the old 

 quarters. The dipper has a faint, sweet, piping song, 

 which ounds like the echo of a rivulet's music. 



