. Rural bird life : being essays on ornithology with instructions for preserving objects relating to that science . uarter of an houror more without once quitting it. The food of theDipper is composed of the various forms of insect lifeinhabiting the waters, and their larvae. Young fish hewill also devour, and worms and grubs found on thebanks of the stream. A word as to this singular birds place in our classi-fication. Were you to examine the Dipper you wouldfind his plumage similar to the plumage of water birdsin general, yet his feet are not webbed, and do notresemble the feet of water bird
. Rural bird life : being essays on ornithology with instructions for preserving objects relating to that science . uarter of an houror more without once quitting it. The food of theDipper is composed of the various forms of insect lifeinhabiting the waters, and their larvae. Young fish hewill also devour, and worms and grubs found on thebanks of the stream. A word as to this singular birds place in our classi-fication. Were you to examine the Dipper you wouldfind his plumage similar to the plumage of water birdsin general, yet his feet are not webbed, and do notresemble the feet of water birds, nor does his beak andgeneral appearance proclaim him as one whose haunt isthe waters. Notwithstanding, the bird, however, has, Ithink, far more claim to be ranked amongst the waterbirds than those frequenting the land ; he is, in fact, what 64 RURAL BIRD LIFE. we might call midway between them, and instead of dis-tinguishing him by the somewhat vague name of Dipper/some more fitting title should be bestowed upon him,and a place assigned to him in our classification more inharmony with his ways of life. ^^?^. THE HEDGE ACCENTOR. The Hedge Sparrow, or Hedge Accentor, for he is nota Sparrow at all, though certainly he bears a distant resem-blance to one, is another little soft-billed chorister whopermanently resides in Britain. He shares the hedge-rows with the Robin, and frequents the tangled brakesand thickets with the Wren. We see him hoppingamongst the heaps of wood in the farmyard, uttering hislow and plaintive call notes, and amongst the ever-greens in the shubbery he is often seen, especially atnightfall. A quiet and unobtrusive little creature he is,and his low and plaintive music, resembling the song ofthe Wren, only nothing near so loud, is heard at all timesof the year, provided he can obtain sufficient shelter fromthe elements. The Hedge Accentor appears to love retirement, even F 66 RURAL BIRD LIFE. more so than the Wren, and his only aim when disturbedis to seek s
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Keywords: ., bookauthorcoue, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1880, booksubjectbirds
