British Birds. 
interesting bird to watch, as it flies with rapid beats of its wings, much after the 
manner of a Kingfisher, and settles down on a stone, from which it deliberately 
walks into the water and disappears beneath the surface, seeking for its food at the 
bottom of the stream. It is accused of devouring trout-ova, but its principal food 
consists of caddis-worms, water-beetles and small shells. The nest of the Dipper 
is a domed structure, with the entrance-hole rather low down, made of moss which 
assimilates to the surroundings of the rocky-hole or bank in which the nest is 
placed, and hence it is never easy to find. Inside this dome of moss the real nest is 
placed, and this consists of grass, slender twigs and leaves, closely compacted 
together. The eggs are pure white, but without any gloss, so that they cannot be 
mistaken for the eggs of the Kingfisher. 
THE BLACK-BELLIED 
DIPPER. 
( Cinclus cinclus.) 
The Dippers of the Old World are divided into several 
races, which inhabit certain mountainous areas of the 
continents of Europe and Asia. Our Common Dipper, for 
instance, is only found in Great Britain, France and 
Germany, Holland and Belgium, and in the Alps and the Pyrenees its place is taken 
by a paler form, Cinclus albicollis. In Scandinavia occurs the Black-bellied Dipper, 
which differs from our own species in having a chocolate-brown or blackish breast, 
instead of a rufous one. Occasionally the Scandinavian form appears to cross 
the sea, as it has been met with in our eastern counties. In habits as well 
as in its nest and eggs there is no difference between C. cinclus and C. aquaticus. 
I have found the Dipper in Norway nesting by the side of a roaring 
torrent, and perching on the rocks in the midst of the foam. The close-set 
plumage of the bird, however, seems to be impervious to wet, as might be 
gathered from the way in which it is able to remain under water. The 
young birds on leaving the nest, keep to the rocks by the side of the stream 
and are assiduously fed by their parents. 
This tiny 
THE WREN. 
(Anorthura 
troglodytes.) 
little bird is 
found all over 
Great Britain, 
and is resident with us 
throughout the year, though 
our eastern coasts are 
visited by a considerable 
number of individuals during 
the autumn migration. It 
seems curious that such a 
small bird should brave the 
North Sea, but it is not 
more wonderful than is the 
The Black-Bellied Dipper. 
