ii8 THE BLACK-BELLIED DIPPER. 



have more than once seen my white-breasted 

 friend come flying along a narrow stream and 

 perch on a rock below me, and then after a little 

 interval, walk gradually below the surface of the 

 water. 



This sub-aquatic manner of feeding has aroused 

 considerable animosity against the Dipper, as he 

 is roundly accused of devouring the ova of trout — 

 a sin of such heinous extent, that in the Rhine 

 provinces, during the last few years, a war has 

 been waged against the Dippers, ariB hundreds, 

 not to say thousands, of these little birds have 

 been killed. And yet, if our best English 

 naturalists are to be believed, this must be a 

 foolish policy, for, although it is undoubted that 

 the Dipper will occasionally seize a small fish, its 

 chief food consists of caddis-worms and other 

 water insects, which in their larval state are most 

 destructive to the ova of fish. The destruction of 

 the Dippers has been chronicled, and what one 

 now wants to know is, whether the trout have 

 increased to any extent in these tributaries of 

 the Rhine ? 



That the Dippers are lovers of the mountain- 

 streams is shown by their distribution. Our 



