The Dippers’ 
Home. 
(87) THE BIRD WORLD. 
tive in the eyes of the newcomer, whose 
name is Bobtail, that she willingly goes 
with him up to the stretch of water 
which he calls his home. 
Seeking a Nesting Place. 
For the next week or so Whitebreast 
is busy singing his love song to his new¬ 
found mate; the water insects are get¬ 
ting more plentiful, and life is now so 
easy and pleasant that they begin to 
look out for a place to build a nest. 
He wanders up and down his length of 
water until he finds a ledge of rock right 
under a small waterfall. It is beauti¬ 
fully snug, and cannot be seen except by 
the birds themselves, hidden, as it is, 
by overhanging boulders and the falling 
water. 
Fights for His Bride. 
Before the nest is begun he has to 
fight for his bride, for another Dipper 
comes down from the higher stream and 
tries to steal Bobtail. This, of course, 
rouses Whitebreast, and he rushes at his 
foe. They meet upon a broad, moss- 
covered stone,, and peck and hustle each 
other very fiercely and roughly; but they 
are not built for fighting birds, and soon 
Whitebreast, in his intense indignation, 
drives the other far away. 
The Reward of Conquest . 
When they are alone again White¬ 
breast shows off in a most extravagant 
manner, and takes Bobtail to see where 
he thinks they should build their home. 
Bobtail shows her pleasure in her bird- 
like way, and they set to work fetching 
moss and grass until they have filled up 
the crevice in the rocks and made a 
broad, flat nest, with a hole in the side 
to enter. Bobtail lines this with leaves, 
and then, just before April comes, lays 
her first egg, beautifully white, as many 
birds’ are who lay in dark recesses; and 
very proud she is. But next day she 
lays another, and again another, until at 
the end of a week there are six of her 
treasures to be cared for. 
The Cares of a Family. 
Bobtail has never had a nest of her 
own before, but instinct teaches her to 
keep with her eggs; so she sits steadily, 
until one morning in the middle of April 
the eggs begin to chip, and six of the 
queerest and most helpless little baby 
birds appear. Whitebreast is quite 
excited, and works hard to feed them, 
and both parents are rewarded for their 
care by seeing the youngsters grow day 
by day, until when the month of May 
comes round they are almost ready 10 
leave the nest. 
Parental Anxiety. 
Both parents are now all anxiety, for 
the youngsters show signs of wanting to* 
get out into the open world beyond the 
wall of water which runs without ceasing 
in front of their home. One of them 
falls out into the tumbling water below, 
and when it lodges on the pebbly stretch 
below the fall life is gone, and his little 
body becomes food for a passing crow. 
One by one the other youngsters creep 
along the narrow ledge of rock until 
they reach a wider stone, where they can 
get on to the banks of the stream. Soon 
they hop and flutter to the water’s edge, 
where their parents teach them how to 
feed and how to “ dip ” themselves in 
the shallow pools which hold their food. 
The long summer days pass rapidly 
and happily away, until the youngsters 
can forage for themselves, when Bobtail 
seeks a place to rear another family. 
The Second Family. 
Before she had laid again her first 
brood were scattered up and down the 
stream, and Whitebreast had given up 
looking after them so that he could help 
Bobtail with the nest. This time it is 
built in the crevice in the walling of an 
old stone bridge, so old that no man 
knows when it was built, but now so 
ruinous and broken that it is hardly 
safe, and is but rarely used. 
Once again the eggs are laid. This 
time there are but five, and Bobtail sits 
contentedly waiting for the youngsters 
to a 1 rive. 
