706 
BIRD-LIFE. 
perfectly sheltered by Nature from all harm, and, except 
at times of extraordinary floods, sufficiently dry. A flight 
through the waterfall, a feat so easily performed by the 
Dipper, is one not likely to be emulated by its enemies; 
and in such situations the brood is placed quite out of 
harm’s way. Unfortunately this very protection is some¬ 
times a source of mischief, for most early broods are 
swept away by the angry flood. The structure of the 
nest varies according to the materials used: it must have 
a roof, and where the covering of the cavity is not suffi¬ 
cient the bird will build an immense structure to serve 
the purpose required; the entrance is very small, being 
just large enough to admit the bird; and the interior of 
the nest is in the form of a hemisphere. The principal 
material used is moss, mixed at the most with a little 
straw, roots of grasses and small twigs; the inside is 
lined with dry leaves and fine grass haulm. The eggs 
are from four to six in number, roundish, tender, smooth, 
and of a uniform white colour. The young, hatched in 
from fourteen to sixteen days, are the objects of great 
affection on the part of the parents, who keep them well 
supplied with food; they remain a long while in the 
nest. After the nestlings have flown the old birds soon 
leave them to shift for themselves, and, indeed, drive 
them from the beat, and thus oblige them to look out 
for another on their own account. The following year 
the young birds attain their full plumage, and are ready 
to breed. 
It has been asserted that the Sparrow Hawk is able to 
catch the full-grown Dipper, and that the young are apt 
to be snapped up by polecats, weasels, and water-rats; 
still one thing is certain, that they run far more danger 
from water than from the above-named animals. They 
