SOME BIRDS OF THE WATERFALLS 167 



song, but breaking off short, again disappears. 

 Standing on an old stone bridge, I am enabled to 

 observe him closely. By a rapid vibratory motion 

 of his wings he drives himself down through the 

 water, and by the aid of his wide-spreading, though 

 un webbed feet, he clings to and walks among the 

 pebbles. These he rapidly turns over with his bill, 

 searching for the larvae of water-flies and gauzy- 

 winged ephemerae. He searches the brook care- 

 fully downwards, sometimes clean immersed, at 

 other times with his back out, and then with the 

 water barely covering his feet. He does not always 

 work with the stream, for we have frequently seen 

 him struggling against it, but even now retaining his 

 position upon the bottom. Even at the present day 

 there are naturalists who, from the examination of 

 cabinet specimens, aver that it is not in the power of 

 the bird to walk at the bottom of a brook; but then 

 they know nothing of him along his native streams. 

 There are few things of the waterways that 

 are not the enemies of trout during some period 

 of their life-history. But total exemption from 

 blame is now generally admitted to the ouzel. 

 The other day I had occasion to walk over miles 

 and miles of trout streams. In all of these fish of 

 every size were upon the gravel beds which con- 

 stitute the spawning " redds." Almost at every 

 turn the white chemisette of the brook bird glinted 



