126 THE BIRDS OF OUR RAMBLES. 



yet quite as interesting and much more widely 

 dispersed. 



On most streams sufficiently swift-flowing and 

 widely rocky of bed the DIPPER (Cinclus aquaticus) is 

 sure to be met with. He loves the stream where 

 it flows the quickest, where its waters are troubled 

 and toss in mad career, foam-flecked and noisy, 

 over the moss-grown boulders ; the dark, deep 

 pools below the falls, where the spotted trout and 

 grayling lurk, and where the shrews, the rats, and 

 the otters have their habitation. These are the 

 haunts most favoured by the Dipper. You cannot 

 possibly mistake him for any other species. His 

 brown upper plumage, white throat, and rufous 

 breast, together with the habit of plunging head- 

 long into the stream at intervals, are quite 

 enough to unfailingly proclaim his identity. 

 Summer and winter alike he dwells by the stream, 

 and in spring his short glad song sounds fitfully 

 amidst the roar, and the gurgle, and the babble 

 of the never-silent waters. It will be remarked 

 by the careful observer that each particular pair 

 of Dippers seem to hold a vested right in certain 

 lengths of the stream, which they are prone to 

 guard from encroachment. This pretty bird is 

 almost as active as a Wren, for ever skipping and 

 flying about ; now on the land or the water-girdled 

 rocks, anon in the stream itself, where he is as 

 much at home as the fish themselves, coming to 

 the surface at intervals for breath. Indeed, much 

 of his insect food is obtained amongst the stones 

 and sand, moss and pebbles at the bottom of the 

 stream. He flies low, yet quickly, following the 

 windings of the stream, and often utters a low, 

 feeble chirp just as he rises into the air. In addi- 



