MERULICLE. 55 



by many. As to its power of swimming on the 

 surface, which has been, and still is, I believe, 

 disputed, I have settled that to my own, if not to 

 other people's, satisfaction ; for as I was walking by 

 the brook here my attention was attracted by seeing, 

 some way down the stream, a ripple in the water as 

 if something was swimming towards me ; as it was 

 close under the bank on my side, and there was a 

 slight bend in the stream, I could not see what it 

 was, but, suspecting it to be a water rat, I lay by, 

 stick in hand, to knock it down as it came round the 

 bend, which it soon did, when, much to my surprise, 

 it proved to be not a water rat but a Water Ouzel : 

 it was swimming well and strongly against a mode- 

 rate stream : on seeing me it rose from the water 

 and flew off. From where I noticed the ripple it 

 swam some distance, at least ten or twelve yards. 

 As the water at the place was nearly two feet deep 

 and the bank a perpendicular wall, the bird re- 

 ceived no assistance from either bank or bottom, 

 and had nothing but its own swimming powers to 

 rely upon. 



The nest of the Water Ouzel is generally placed 

 under an arch or some overhanging stone or bank, 

 generally, though not always, near a waterfall ; but 

 though occasionally placed very close to a consider- 

 able waterfall it is always so protected that the water 

 cannot splash into it. It is a very early nester : in 

 1866 I saw a pair of Water Ouzels building as early 



