DIITKK. 245 



or eight inches deep, and ten or twelve inches across, composed 

 of various species of mosses, chiefly of the genus Hypnum, 

 finely felted, so as to form a mass not easily torn asunder, 

 especially in its lower part. In front is a hole, just admitting 

 the passage of the bird, and opening upon the nest itself, which 

 is cup-shaped, from five to six inches in diameter, built of 



grass-stems and lined with dead leaves. Placed in a recess 

 by the side of a stream or under a projecting stone, forming 

 part of a cascade, and behind the sheet of falling water, the 

 structure, large as it is, so much resembles a moss-covered 

 rock, that it may easily escape observation. The Dipper breeds 

 early in the season. The eggs are five or six in number, 

 measuring from 1'05 to '97 by from '75 to '72 in., somewhat 

 pointed at the smaller end, and of a pure, but not glossy, 

 white. 



Macgillivray, who examined the contents of the stomach 

 in these birds on various occasions, found only beetles and 

 the animals of freshwater-shells belonging to the genera Lim- 

 ncea and Ancylns. Caddis-worms the larvae of Phryganece, 

 besides those of various Libellnlce dragon-flies, Epheinerce 

 may-flies, and HydrophUi water-beetles, have also been 

 mentioned, and these are known to be among the aquatic in- 

 sects most destructive to fish- spawn. Yet in some places, 

 particularly in Scotland, where this bird is known as the 



