The Water Ouzel. 



209 



as it will permit anyone, in a quiet, undemonstrative way, 

 to approach it pretty closely. It frequents places where there 

 are lofty hills or cliffs, and shallow streams of pure rippling 

 water ; or the banks of rivers, with rocky margins and dense 

 underwood, the branches of which overshadow the water. 

 In such places it is frequently to be met with, more 

 particularly in Derbyshire, Yorkshire, Cumberland, Westmore- 

 land, and Scotland, where the greater part of the country is 

 admirably adapted to its wants. 



It makes its nest beneath a tree at the edge of a river, 

 where the water has washed the soil away, exposing the 

 upper portion of the roots, and forming a hollow beneath ; 

 or under a projecting stone or rock abutting on the margin 

 of a stream ; or on the ground by the side of a piece of 

 brushwood ; but always in close proximity to the water. The 

 nest is large, broad, but somewhat flattish, and domed, having 

 an aperture in the front or side for ingress and egress. It 

 is composed of moss, bent grass, and root fibre, and is lined 

 with fine grass and leaves. The hen lays from five to seven 

 eggs, of a long, oval shape, rose tinted with white, and sit& 

 fifteen days. The young will leave the nest at the age of 

 eighteen days, or earlier if they are interfered with, and run 

 into holes, or beneath projecting rocks, or other places difificult 

 of access. 



Each pair of "Water Ouzels has a particular haunt or 

 location, to which they adhere with almost unvarying fidelity. 

 When the water is frozen over at the spot which they 

 have selected as their abode, they remove, 'pvo teinpora, to 

 some more congenial place, but return again when the 

 weather moderates, and a thaw sets in. They frequent hilly 

 country, such as is met with in Cumberland and West- 

 moreland, where small cascades are found tumbling and 

 bounding over old grey, moss-clad rocks ; and are especially 

 fond of places which are steep and rugged, or where some 

 crude embankment, which has been lacerated by impetuous 

 torrents, h^s been cut asunder. 



Methods'^'.of Capture. — When their haunts have been 

 discovered, watch carefully the habits of the birds, and place 

 a few well-limed twigs on some of the stones or branches 

 overhanging a shallow part of the stream. Bait at this spot 

 with living mealworms, or ants' eggs. These birds are 



p 



