318 THE MOCKING 8&/RD. 
The song of the Dipper is a lively and cheerful performance, and is 
uttered most frequently in the bright frosty mornings. Sometimes it will 
stand upon a stone when singing, and accompany its song with the oddest 
imaginable gestures, hopping and skipping about, twisting its head in all 
directions and acting as if it 
were performing for the amuse- 
ment of the spectator. 
The nest is not unlike that of 
the wren, being chiefly composed 
of mosses built into a dome-like 
shape with a single aperture in 
the side. It is generally placed 
near the water, and always under 
some sort of cover, usually a hole 
| in the bank. 
The nest is not, however, al- 
ways so close to the water, for 
I found one near Swindon, in 
DIPPER.—(Hydrobates cinclus.) the side of an old disused pit, at 
some little distance from the 
great Swindon reservoir. It was discovered more by accident than by 
intention, the touch having given the first intimation of its presence. The 
moss always remains in a green state, as it is placed in a damp locality, so 
that it can with great difficulty be distinguished from the vegetation’ of the 
spot whereon it is situated. 
The eggs are pure white, and rather long in proportion to their breadth. 
Their full number is five, and the young remain with their parents for a 
: considerable period, forming 
little companies of five or 
six of these curious birds. 
The general colour of this 
bird is brown on the upper 
surface of the body; the 
throat and upper parts of 
the chest are white, and the 
abdomen is rusty red. The 
young birds possess a rather 
variegated plumage of black, 
brown, ash colour, and white. 
Si} The total length of the adult 
bird is about seven inches. 
THE MOCKING BIRD of 
America is universally al- 
lowed to be the most won- 
derful of all songsters, as it 
MOCKING BIRD.—(Mimus polyglottus.) not only possesses a very 
fine and melodious voice, 
but is also endowed with the capacity for imitating the notes of any other. 
bird, and, indeed, of immediately reproducing with* the most astonishing 
exactness any sound which it may hear. ; . ; 
All persons who come within the sound of the Mocking Bird’s voice are 
fascinated with the thrilling strains that are poured without effort from the 
melodious throat, and every professed ornithologist who has heard this 
wonderful bird has exhausted the powers of his language in endeavouring 
to describe the varied and entrancing melody of the Mocking Bird. Within 
