THE DIPPER. 315 



and neck grey which is brown in the old birds ; and they 

 have the under part white almost to the vent, but marked 

 with grey and yellow on the portion which afterwards be- 

 comes brown. They are, of course, seen with the plumage 

 of tre changeable parts in all its intermediate stages ; and, as 

 it may change differently in different birds (as is the case in 

 all birds that change much of their plumage either with age 

 or with the seasons), there may be very different markings 

 even in the same brood in the autumn ; but probably there 

 are distinct species, or at least varieties. 



When the bird is standing in its usual position of quietude, 

 the length from the point of the bill to that of the tail is 

 not more than five inches and a-half, of which the bill and 

 tail take two inches and a-half, measured on the horizontal 

 line, so that the body of the bird, in that position, is shorter 

 than that of any other species of equal weight. The weight 

 is two ounces and a-half. The curve along the under side 

 is, however, nearly nine inches. 



The dipper inhabits more romantic places than those that 

 are the almost exclusive haunts of any other British bird ; 

 and its manners, taken altogether, are among the most sin- 

 gular. It is not confined to any particular latitude, being 

 found near the Channel, in Wales, in the mountainous parts 

 of the centre of the island, and also in the north. Cold and 

 heat seem indifferent to it, so that it can be near water 

 which is not frozen. The ravines on the slopes _ of the 

 mountains, where the perennial streams have worn them- 

 selves deep and rugged channels through the strata, with 

 here an opposing rock, there a dimpling pool, and in another 

 place a brawling rapid, with loose stone%, overturned trees, 

 ne plus ultra precipices, and all the et ceteras which annoy, 

 while they astonish, a guideless stranger in such places, are 

 the favourite haunts of the dipper. The bird flits before 

 him from stone to stone, chirping, and with a wing so appa- 



