CHAPTER V. 



THE DIPPER, OR WATER-OUSEL. 



The Dipper, or Water-ousel, of which Mr. Weir has given us a 

 charming and faithful portrait, is very like a wren in form and 

 action, with its round body and lively little tail. Its mode of 

 flight, however, so nearly resembles the king-fisher that, in 

 some places, the country people mistake it for the female of that 

 bird. But it is neither wren nor kingfisher, nor yet related to 

 either of them. It is the nice little water-ousel, with ways of 

 its own, and a cheerful life of its own, and the power of giving 

 pleasure to all lovers of the free country which is enriched with 

 an infinite variety of happy, innocent creatures. 



The upper part of the head and neck, and the whole back and 

 wings of this bird, are of a rusty-brown ; but, as each individual 

 feather is edged with gray, there is no deadness of colouring. 

 The throat and breast are snowy white, which, contrasting so 

 strongly with the rest of the body, makes it seem to flash about 

 like a point of light through the dark shadows of the scenes it 

 loves to haunt. 



I said above that this bird gave pleasure to all lovers of 

 nature. So it does, for it is only met with in scenes which are 

 especially beloved by poets and painters. Like them, it delights 

 in mountain regions, where rocky streams rush along with an 

 unceasing murmur, leaping over huge stones, slumbering in 



