494 AMERICAN DIPPER. 
mountain corry, meets it with delight ; and the patient and contempla- 
tive angler, as he guides his tackle over the deep pool, smiles upon the 
tiny fisher, whose frequent becks have attracted his notice. The sin- 
gular circumstance of its obtaining its food under the surface of the 
water, although in form and structure it is allied to the Thrushes, 
Wrens, and other land birds, has especially drawn the attention of or- 
nithologists to it; and the explanation of its mode of progression in 
that element has exercised their ingenuity, although very few have 
based their conjectures on actual observation. Lastly, the land-pro- 
prietor, or his factor, too much occupied with other pursuits to inquire 
for themselves, and trusting to the reports of prejudiced persons, di- 
rect their gamekeepers and shepherds to destroy the lively and harm- 
less creature, whenever an opportunity occurs, because it has been sup- 
posed to destroy the eggs and fry of the salmon. 
“This bird having in a particular manner engaged my attention in 
the course of my many rambles, I have been enabled to trace its his- 
tory in a satisfactory degree, so that the account here presented of it 
I consider as among the most accurate of those which I have written. 
“ It frequents the sides of rivers and streams of inferior magnitude, 
especially such as are clear and rapid, with pebbly or rocky margins. 
I have met with it in every part of Scotland, as well as in the hilly 
parts of Cumberland and Westmoreland, and it is said by Monracu 
to oceur in Wales and Devonshire. In Scotland it is not peculiar to 
the mountainous regions, being found in the lowest parts of the Lo- 
thians, as well as on the alpine rills of the Grampians, and other ele- 
vated tracts, but it is generally more abundant in hilly ground, and, 
although never common in any district, is nowhere more plentiful than 
on the Tweed and its tributaries, in the pastoral counties of Peebles 
and Selkirk. It is also a well-known inhabitant of all the larger Heb- 
rides. It is not only a permanent resident, but seldom shifts its sta- 
tion to any great extent, excepting during continued frosts, when it 
descends along the streams, and is seen flitting about by the rapids and 
falls. _Mill-dams are also favourite resorts, especially in winter and 
spring. On lakes having a muddy or peaty bottom I have never ob- 
served it; but it may sometimes be seen on those which are shallow 
and pebbly at the margins, as on St Mary’s Loch in Yarrow, where I 
have shot it. 
“ The flight of the Dipper is steady, direct, and rapid, like that of the 
