68 
the fortunate observer who may see the Dipper enter the water may p 
with great caution approach sufficiently near to see it moving along p 
the bottom actively engaged in its search for food. When it so t> 
desires it rises, cork-like, to the surface, and, taking wing, usually :1. 
flies in a straight line up stream to the nearest steae atTording a | j 
resting-place above water. Like most of our native birds, the Ig; 
Dipper breeds more than once in the course of a season ; the first h 
nest may be found in favourable seasons early in April. It I 
resembles the nest of the Wren, though it is, of course, much larger, k 
while the aperture is lower down in the side. It consists of a large 
ball of moss felted closely together, and is lined with dry leaves, lb' 
f^re^uently those of the beech, and contains four or five eggs, pure |t> 
white and of a rather pointed shape. They, before being blown, la 
possess a delicate pinky tinge, due to the translucence of the shell k 
and the presence of the yoke within. The nest has, in the writer’s ^ 
experience, been always placed above water in such a position that m 
the young, if emerging before flight, would fall into the water. It I 
is most usually placed in the crevices of a rocky bank, though * 
occasionally in the roots of a tree projecting from a similar situation. k 
The song of the Dipper is very musical, and heard in the young k 
months of the year and in its usually exquisite surroundings has a : r 
charm all its own. ^ 
Duck, Common Eider. — This bird is resident with us through- i|| 
out the year, in winter its numbers are added to by migrants from *r 
the Faroe Islands, and also from Scandinavia, but a considerable v 
number instead of proceeding north in the spring remain with us to >| > 
breed. On the well protected Fame Isles they breed in numbers. K 
Their favourite haunt is further north, numbers frequenting the ii 
Hebrides and larger numbers the Orkneys and Shetlands. In the ii 
latter Isles, it is not an uncommon sight to find eight or ten Eiders 
•n a small out-lying Islet. ... . ■ 
The well-known down of this bird is a commercial commodity, ,ii 
and they ate accordingly afforded much protection in Iceland and -U 
Scandinavia, where the down is regularly gathered, but the bird i' 
does not occur in our Islands in numbers sufficient to enable this to 
be profitably done. The female Eider like all the others of the duck > 
tribe lines her nest with the down pulled from her own breast, this down i- 
is of grey colour, centred with white, and a very considerable portion ♦ 
is employed in the construction of each nest. In the centre of this f 
warm and comfortable nest, are to be found from three to five eggs l; 
of a greenish grey colour. The female Eider is very tame at the I 
nost, often sitting until actually touched. The male Eider is a 
particularly handsome bird, some 23 inches in length, the plumage J- 
of the back is pure white, and the crown of the head of a rich glossy 1 
black, the sides of the head and neck are white, washed with f 
exquisite Eau-de-nil. The breast is white, washed with a delicate 1- 
roseate cream, ending in a clearly defined line, where it meets the I 
under parts of the bird which are of a rich black. The male Eider • 
has in the breeding season a most peculiar call, resembling the coo i 
of a dove, though much harsher in tone. The food of the Eider 
consists of shell-fish and its digestive powers may be described as 1 
tremendous. In dissecting this duck a large quantity of whelks I 
may often be found in its gizzard, entire, including the shell. They t 
are there ground to a rough, gritty powder by the powerful action of 
this organ, and pass to the stomach, where the nutritious part is 
assimilated and from which the ground shell is ejected. 
Duck, Common Sheld. — This bird is our most brilliantly 1 
coloured duck, its plumage being in broad patches of pure white, I 
