DOMED OR ROOFED NESTS 231 



very widely distributed, being found in the mountain- 

 ous parts of the Palsearctic region and in the Rocky 

 Mountains and Andes in the New World. They are 

 dwellers on the banks of swift-flowing rivers and 

 streams, and all seem to possess the habit of making 

 large globular nests, which are often placed so near 

 to or even beneath cascades and running water, that 

 the outer materials are kept in a moist and green 

 condition. The nest of the British Dipper {Cinclus 

 aquaticus) may be taken as thoroughly typical of all 

 the rest. The favourite site for the nest is in some 

 crevice of the rocks on the side of a gorge under a 

 bridge, in the masonry of a sluice or weir (the latter 

 situations being capital examples of adaptability), or 

 amongst the exposed roots of a tree. The external 

 materials of this globular nest (which in some cases 

 may be as many as eighteen inches in length) consist 

 principally of green moss (in many cases sphagnum 

 is used), which harmonises in tint with surrounding 

 objects, strengthened here and there with grass stems, 

 especially round the circular entrance hole. Inside 

 this ball of moss another and a cup-shaped nest is 

 formed, consisting of dry grass, roots, and fine twigs, 

 and finally lined with quantities of dead leaves arranged 

 in a series of layers. Dippers are much attached to 

 certain nesting spots, and build year after year in one 

 situation, if they are left undisturbed especially. I 

 might also mention that an Australian bird {Origma 

 rubricata), certainly not very closely related to the 



