. A history of British birds . Junior, too, has in his collection a black-breastedDipper which was obtained in Yorkshire. The Dipper is secluded in its habits; and it rarely hap-pens that more than two are seen together except in summer,when the parents are accompanied by their young. Itsflight is rapid and even, not unlike that of the Kingfisher ;while it much resembles the Wren in its song, its habit ofelevating and jerking its tail, its general manners, and theform of its domed nest. This last, as here represented froma specimen received from Yorkshire by the late Mr. Salmon,consists of an
. A history of British birds . Junior, too, has in his collection a black-breastedDipper which was obtained in Yorkshire. The Dipper is secluded in its habits; and it rarely hap-pens that more than two are seen together except in summer,when the parents are accompanied by their young. Itsflight is rapid and even, not unlike that of the Kingfisher ;while it much resembles the Wren in its song, its habit ofelevating and jerking its tail, its general manners, and theform of its domed nest. This last, as here represented froma specimen received from Yorkshire by the late Mr. Salmon,consists of an irregularly-shaped exterior casing, some seven DIITKR. 245 or eight inches? deep, and ten or twelve inches across, composedof various species of mosses, chiefly of the genus Ilyjmum,finely felted, so as to form a mass not easily torn asunder,especially in its lower part. In front is a hole, just admittingthe passage of the bird, and opening upon the nest itself, whichis cup-shaped, from five to six inches in diameter, built of. grass-stems and lined with dead leaves. Placed in a recessby the side of a stream or under a projecting stone, formingpart of a cascade, and behind the sheet of falling water, thestructure, large as it is, so much resembles a moss-coveredrock, that it may easily escape observation. The Dipper breedsearly in the season. The eggs are five or six in number,measuring from 1-05 to -97 by from 75 to 72 in., somewhatpointed at the smaller end, and of a pure, but not glossy,white. Macgillivray, who examined the contents of the stomachin these birds on various occasions, found only beetles andthe animals of freshwater-shells belonging to the genera Lim-Hcea and Ancylm. Caddis-worms—the larva3 of Phryrianea,besides those of various Li6(//»Zce—dragon-flies, Epkemeue—may-flies, and HtjdrojjJidi—water-beetles, have also beenmentioned, and these are known to be among the aquatic in-sects most destructive to fish-spawn. Yet in some places,particularly in Scotl
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Keywords: ., bookauthorsaun, bookcentury1800, bookdecade1870, booksubjectbirds
