Page:Bird-lore Vol 08.djvu/29

Rh used. I have found nests deserted where the inside nest was saturated with splashing water, so there can be too much water, even for a Dipper.

The young birds, when apparently about half the size of the old ones, drop into the running water and prove to be good swimmers, as they play about, dive and appear to be in their proper element. I have seen as many as six at one time and have known as few as three eggs to comprise the set.

Dippers are not generally known as song-birds, as they are usually found where the water makes so much noise that their song can not be heard; but if one goes near the nest and remains long enough for both birds to become greatly disturbed, the male bird will sing a song entirely different from any bird song I have ever heard.

This little bird appears to be especially persecuted by fishermen, though no bird is more deserving of their protection. Their food is insects that adhere to the gravel where the trout do their spawning, as well as other water life, but I have never heard that they disturb the spawn or young fry. They sometimes remain on mountain streams till they are entirely frozen over. When they decide to migrate they fly in circles until high enough to clear the mountains and then start boldly for warmer regions, and are not again seen on that stream for the winter. They do not seem to mind cold weather as long as the streams remain open, as I have seen them in January where the water from a mining tunnel kept the creek clear of ice.