364 AX ANGLER'S RAMBLES 



THE WATER-OUSEL. 



AMONG the enemies of the salmon has been classed the water- 

 ousel (Cinclus aquaticus). The fact that this joyous bird, one of 

 the few among the feathered race which welcomes with a carol 

 the Christmas-tide, is addicted to the picking up of salmon 

 spawn, has been made patent to me by observation. What other 

 object can it have in frequenting the shallows of our salmon 

 rivers during the pairing season, after these have been denuded 

 by frosty, influences and the Martinmas floods of all other kinds 

 of sustenance, and by indulging in cold-bath exercises and sub- 

 aqueous peregrinations vying with those of the Oriental pearl- 

 diver ? None! this is plain. But that the water-ousel does 

 mischief is quite another question. All that it does is to claim 

 a share, along with the common trout, of the wastage of the 

 spawning-beds, in other words, of those beads or particles of ova 

 which, not having been buried in the redd, are, to all intents and 

 purposes, lost to the river. With this much vituperated hibernal 

 songster no true angler and lover of river-side amenities will 

 interfere. The water-ousel is not only a partaker in the super- 

 abundance of our streams, but a large contributor to their 

 pleasures. 



GLEE. 



i. 



SEEK ye whaur the burnie travels, 

 Sullied wi' the simmer showers ; 

 Whaur the fairies baud their revels, 

 In the cleuch amang the flowers 

 Seek ye there, free o' care, 



To dip the flowin' line 

 Wi' cunnin' han', to ply the wan', 

 An' lead the flowin' line? 



