COMMON DIPPER. II 



by the water side you will find it hidden away, and a 

 lot of finding it sometimes takes, though it is a large 

 nest, built of moss and lined thickly with leaves, with 

 a domed roof very much like a large Wren's. Atkin- 

 son tells of a pair of birds that built their nest beneath 

 a spout which carried off the waste water from a mill, 

 where they reared their brood beneath this artificial 

 waterfall. They seem to like to return to their old 

 spot every year, and one instance is on record of a 

 pair and their descendants using the same spot for 

 thirty-one years, rearing three broods a year all the 

 time.* 



The feathers of this bird are blue-black in colour, 

 except the head, which is brown, and the neck and 

 breast, which are white. He is often persecuted, for he 

 is frequently seen to dive down into the breeding beds 

 of the salmon and trout, and so he is accused of eating 

 the fish spawn. Seebohm, however, declares that he 

 is a good friend to the fisher, for in reality he goes 

 down to catch the insects and other water creatures 

 that are themselves most harmful to the ova. 



The eggs of the Dipper are four or five in number, 

 generally four, pure white, and in size slightly smaller 

 than the Thrush's. 



The bird occasionally is seen in the South, and in- 

 stances are on record of it breeding there, but they 

 are very few indeed. 



* Morris's Nests and Eggs of British Birds, vol. ii., p. 26. 



