LXXII. 

 CINCLUS AQUATICUS. 



Water Crow, Water Ouzel, Dipper. 



In nidification, as well as in general appearance, the Water 

 Ouzel approaches very closely to our Common Wren. This 

 active little bird seems to prefer those mountain streams, the 

 currents of which are rapid and often broken ; there it may 

 at all times be seen, either passing rapidly along the water, 

 or seated upon some rock warbling its sweet notes, when all 

 around it is cold and ice-bound ; it begins to prepare its nest 

 early in the month of April, It is, as above-mentioned, si- 

 milar to that of the Common Wren ; like it — it is com- 

 posed of an abundance of moss, interspersed with a few 

 straws, and is covered with a dome, leaving merely a hole for 

 the entrance of the bird ; this is, too, at the lower part (as I 

 have seldom failed to notice in the nest of the Wren), neatly 

 smoothed down, and kept straight by a few strong grass 

 stalks ; it is not so deep inside as other nests of similar for- 

 mation, being very thickly lined with a large quantity of dead 

 leaves of the beech and oak, chiefly the latter, with a few 

 straws and flags ; it is, for the most part, placed either against 

 the bank of the river, or the moss-grown surface of some rock. 

 My friend, ^Vlr. Benjamin Johnson, informs me, that he has 

 known of one for many years, in succession, built upon the 

 rafters in one of the salmon fish locks upon the river Tyne ; 

 the eggs are four or five in number, being, when unblown, 

 of a delicate blush-colour. I once surprised a nest of young 

 Water Crows, which, although they could scarcely fly, in- 

 stantly took to the water, down the stream of which they were 

 hurried with such rapidity that I supposed it impossible that 

 any of them could weather it ; they did so, however, and 

 landed safely far below. 



