THE DIPPER. 



THE DIPPER, 



[Cinclus aquations]. 



The Fulmar Petrel lays but one egg; yet 

 it is believed to be the most numerous bird in 

 the world. 



DARWIN. 



As more individuals are produced than can 

 possibly survive, there must in every case be a 

 struggle for existence, either one individual 

 with another of the same species, or with the 

 individuals of a distinct species, or with the 

 physical conditions of life. 



DARWIN. 



I FEEL sure that if ever human ingenuity can 

 devise a clockwork or electric bird to bob 

 up and down, to fly either in the air or 

 under water and to sing; the result will 

 approximate the form and movements of the 

 common dipper or water ousel more than any 

 other bird that is known in England. 



Everything about the bird is mechanical. Its 

 song could be nearly produced by a wet cork 

 on a window pane, and its two screamy notes 

 uttered on the wing are far more artificial than 

 those of the kingfisher or sandpiper, who fly 

 past one in much the same hurried manner; 

 generally in pairs, and at much the same 

 height above the water. The note of the sand- 

 piper seems to come from a clarinet; while the 

 squeal of the kingfisher, or the squeak of the 



