380 Wild Life in Wales 



which the bird commonly enters the water from a shelving 

 beach, but has long ago been dispelled by closer observa- 

 tion, as well as by allusion to the fact that the specific 

 gravity of the bird's body is sufficient to render such a feat 

 impossible. It is only by the strenuous and constant use 

 of its wings, in much the same manner as though the bird 

 were flying, that it is able to keep itself for a short time 

 submerged ; but that the wings, aided by the feet, are a 

 very efficient means of propulsion, will be acknowledged by 

 all who have ever tried to capture a Dipper in the water. 

 Even an unfledged young one dives with facility on its 

 first introduction to that element, and an adult in the water 

 takes far more catching than a Water Hen, and is much 

 less easily tired. During the autumnal moult, so many of 

 the quill feathers are sometimes lost simultaneously, that a 

 Dipper becomes, for the time, practically incapacitated from 

 flight, and trusts to diving, and hiding below banks, or 

 amongst stones, to escape observation. When walking 

 with a keeper one day near Llanuwchllyn, I came upon a 

 bird in such case ; and, although we had a retriever to help 

 us, and the stream was quite a small one, we hunted it for 

 quite twenty minutes without being able to effect a capture. 

 Finally the pursuit was abandoned ; but in passing that way, 

 alone, a few days afterwards, I again came upon my friend, 

 and this time determined to try and find out how he evaded 

 us. He was just able to fly sufficiently to make his way, 

 by short flights, back to the old place; and there, as before, 

 he disappeared. Sitting down a short distance away, I had 

 waited perhaps a quarter of an hour, when he emerged 

 from his retreat, bobbing and curtseying to me, as though 

 glad to renew the acquaintance. By and by, confidence 

 being established, he began feeding, and making his way 

 down stream, and 1 gradually worked myself between him 

 and his retreat, not without a feeling, as I did so, that 1 

 was playing rather an underhand game, but his resources 

 were not yet exhausted. A couple of short flights took 

 him to a hedge, good use of his legs being made between 

 them ; and with the fall of the hill now in his favour, an 

 extra effort gave him such a start, that he crossed the road 



