190 THE DIPPER. 



ample amends for their little depredations, by pre- 

 venting the increase of rats and frogs. Little, in- 

 deed, must be those depredations : for fishermen 

 are allowed to come here, during the summer, in 

 unrestricted numbers, and the herons have their 

 nests in the trees which hang over the water ; still 

 there is always a most plentiful supply offish. 



If country gentlemen would grant protection to 

 the heron, it would be to us, in some sort, what the 

 stork formerly was, and now is, to our Continental 

 neighbours; namely, an ornamental and a useful bird. 

 Though it certainly would not be so domestic as the 

 stork, still the protection afforded it would tend 

 considerably to change its present habits. Nothing 

 but the roar of guns, the prejudices of pond-owners, 

 and the barbarity of gamekeepers, has rendered the 

 heron a shy, degraded, and devoted bird. 



THE DIPPER. 



" MR. WATERTON will not, I believe, allow that birds ever 

 oil their feathers ; but I would wish to ask of him, how he 

 accounts for the fact that, while the feathers of a thrush 

 or robin, if they have only fallen into the water for a few 

 minutes, become totally spoiled, as far as the purposes of 

 stuffing are concerned, those of the dipper may remain half an 

 hour or more in the water without receiving any damage?" 

 (Rev. F. 0. Morris, in Mag. Nat. Hist., vol. viii. p. 375.) 



I cannot account for the fact stated by the Rev. 

 Mr. Morris. If he infers that birds oil their plumage 



