184 
AMERICAN DIPPER. 
or settle on a stone. Often from a shelving crag or large stone it may be 
seen making short incursions into the water, running out with quiet activity, 
and presently bobbing up to the surface, and regaining its perch by swim- 
ming or wading. The assertion of its walking in the water, on the bottom, 
which some persons have ventured, is not made good by observation, nor 
countenanced by reason and the nature of things. The Dipper is by no 
means a walking bird : even on land I have never seen it move more than a 
few steps, which it accomplished by a kind of leaping motion. Its short 
legs and curved claws are very ill adapted for running, but admirably calcu- 
lated for securing a steady footing on slippery stones, whether above or 
beneath the surface of the water. Like the Kingfisher, it often remains a 
long time perched on a stone, but in most other respects its habits are very 
dissimilar. 
“ On these occasions it is not difficult to approach it, provided due pre- 
caution be used ; but in general it is shy and easily alarmed. I have 
several times shot at an individual which observed me as I was quietly 
walking up to it ; but it is not often that one remains until you come within 
shot. A method which I have often successfully practised was to mark the 
position of the bird at a distance, taking note of an object on the bank 
opposite to it, then make a circuit, and suddenly come upon the spot. When 
one has been pursued either up or down a stream for a quarter of a mile or 
so, it usually turns, to regain its ordinary station, when it may be shot as it 
dashes past. 
“ On being wounded the Dipper commonly plunges into the water, flies 
beneath its surface to the shore, and conceals itself among the stones or 
under the bank. In fact, on all such occasions, if enough of life remains, it 
is sure to hide itself, so that one requires to look sharply after it. In this 
respect it greatly resembles the Common Gallinule. 
“ The food of the Dipper is said by authors to consist of small fishes, roe, 
and water-insects. I have opened a great number of individuals, at all sea- 
sons of the year, but have never found any other substances in the stomach 
than Lymnea , Ancyli, Coleoptera, and grains of gravel. As to the ova and 
fry of the salmon, there is no evidence whatever that the Dipper ever swal- 
lows them; and, therefore, the persecution to which this bird has been sub- 
jected in consequence of the mere suspicion, ought to cease until the fact be 
proved. That the mollusca above mentioned form a principal part of its 
food was never suspected, and therefore I was much pleased with making 
the discovery, which satisfactorily accounted to me for all the subaqueous 
excursions of the species.” 
The only original observations respecting the habits of the American 
Dipper that I have to present here are the following, with which I have 
