120 THE BLACK-BELLIED DIPPER. 



among rocks, or the roots of trees, over-hanging 

 the water, and although of considerable size, is 

 by no means easy of discovery, for it is so care- 

 fully constructed that it looks like a piece of the 

 bank, or like a patch of moss on the rocks. The 

 nest is an oval ball of moss outside, with a 

 compact nest of grass and leaves inside. Mr. 

 Seebohm describes how he pulled a nest of 

 C. aquaticus to pieces, and found "layer after layer 

 of birch and beech leaves, and, as a final lining, 

 a mass of oak leaves, laid one on another like 

 leaves in a book. The outside dome was so 

 closely woven together of moss, with here and 

 there a little dry grass, as not to be torn to 

 pieces without considerable force; and the inside 

 nest was so tightly compacted, that, when the 

 materials were pulled apart, you could hardly 

 believe that they could have been made to take 

 up so little room." 



The eggs of the Dipper are pure white, some- 

 what rough in texture and not glossy. They 

 measure I'o inch and I'l inch by 07 inch to 075 

 inch. 



