The Bird Book 



large beds of osiers, reeds and sedge, are just the 

 places it delights to frequent, and in such the male 

 is a very conspicuous bird, owing to its hand- 

 some black head, strikingly set off by a broad 

 white collar, and its habit of uttering its twittering 

 song from the top of a bulrush. Its back is 

 rufous, streaked with black ; the under surface 

 of the body is white, striped with black on the 

 sides and flanks. The female differs from the 

 male in having the head brown, the collar dusky- 

 brown instead of white, and the sides of the body 

 streaked with dusky -brown instead of black. 

 The nest is generally placed near the ground 

 among long grass, nettles or sedges, at no great 

 distance from water and made of dried grass and 

 moss, with a lining of finer grass and hair. It is 

 impossible not to recognise the eggs as those of 

 the Bunting family, though the "writing" marks 

 are shorter and thicker than is the case with the 

 Yellow Hammer's. The ground colour is stone 

 brown or clay colour and the bold handsome 

 markings a rich purplish brown. 



I have in mind another river very different to 

 the narrow, sluggish, East Anglian ones. Its 

 source is up on the moor, and for several miles the 

 stream alternates between shallow rapids and deep 

 swirling pools. This part is especially the home 

 of the Dipper, a stoutly built, dark-brown little 

 bird, with white throat and chestnut breast. It 

 sits complacently on some stone, past which the 

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