314 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



a brood of young Waterhens, and several Blackbirds, Thrushes, and 

 Starlings. Two of the Peahens also have broods of four and two each, 

 which, mingled with all the varied life to be seen there, made it quite a 

 red-letter day for this charming spot. — W. H. Tuck (47, Cathcart Eoad, 

 South Kensington). 



Nesting Habits of the Dipper. — There are probably few places in 

 the British Islands where the Dipper is so abundant or so widely distributed 

 as in the Co. Wicklow. Along the steep, rushing mountain torrents, as 

 well as the larger and quieter streams of the lowland districts, it is alike 

 everywhere present. Among the numerous Dippers' nests which I have 

 examined, there are a few whose peculiarity may perhaps entitle ihem to a 

 notice in ' The Zoologist.' The nest is usually placed in some crevice in 

 the rocks or masonry over the stream, a niche in an overhanging river- 

 bank, or a hole in the stonework of a bridge, — never in a tree.* The 

 Eiver Deny, in the south of Co, Wicklow, is a sluggish and weedy stream, 

 the abode of pike and minnows, but it is quite as much favoured by these 

 birds as its small rapid tributaries. The banks are for the most part low 

 and grassy, and do not offer many suitable nesting sites ; but I do not 

 think there is a single bridge along its whole course that is not resorted to 

 annually by a pair of Dippers. Under the arch is the most favourite spot 

 for the nest, as the Dipper likes to have its domicile completely sheltered 

 from above. Any accidental crevice or hole left in the stonework serves 

 to receive the nest, which is occasionally built far in out of sight, but 

 usually projects from the mouth of the hole, so as to be conspicuous to any- 

 one looking through the arch. When the nest is at a distance from the 

 entrance of the hole, it is generally a very imperfect structure, like that of 

 a Wren or Sparrow under similar circumstances, the dome being almost 

 completely absent ; but such cases are, I think, rare, the nest being usually 

 wedged, so to speak, in the entrance. But holes in the masonry are by no 

 means indispensable for the Dipper's nesting purposes. I know of two 

 bridges on the River Derry where a Dipper's nest is constructed almost 

 every year on a flat stone projecting from the wall of the arch, less than 

 three feet above the average level of the water. In one of these places 

 the nest has a partial concealment, from some ferns and mosses growing 

 from the stonework around the nest-shelf, the mossy nest being of the 

 same hue as the surrounding objects. In the other place the stones around 

 the nest-shelf are quite bare, and the nest is very conspicuous for some 

 hundred yards along the river to anyone looking through the arch of the 

 bridge, but by a casual observer would probably be taken for a sod or lump 

 of river debris caught on the projecting stone. This nest was carried away 



■• Three instances of Dippers' nests in trees will bo found mentioned in 

 'The Zoologist' for 1888, pp. 309, 351, 392.— Ed. 





