Show animal instinct the dipper or wate ronsel el oqual icus is nell ell known to kiata ni its ono of the most curious curious and of british birds its special is IK clear mountain streams tl bt reams these it never lona leaves except to visit tho the likes lakes into which or from which they how flow without tho the of u webbed ebbed feet it hug has extraordinary powers of acim swimming ming nn and I 1 of d iving diving moving about upon u pon aud and under linger the surface with more than tho the easo and dexterity of 0 it a bleb hunting along tho the bottom as aa it if it bad no power to thoat floating upon tho the top as if it hail bal no power to sink eints now diving chero clero the abe stream Is ii smooth now where it is an anick ick and broken aud suddenly ro perched ou on alo summit of omo projecting point its ita is is in a perfect har motil with I 1 its to haunts dark with nith a puro pure white brenat breast which poolig he exactly jiho orto ono ol of tho the flashes of light so BO numerous nuu erous la a rapid streams or ono of tho ilia little bulls balls of foam which loiter amous among thu the stones its very vary song iw is act to ti tile music of rapid waters F from rom thu the top of a bunk bank one can often got get quito quite cluse close to it when it is is singing a and nd the harmony of its ta notes with the tinkling of 0 thu the stream is ia mil curious curious it auga too when all other birds but tho ilia robin is ia silent eilent when the stones on oa which it sits bits uro circled und rimmed with ice no ho bird perhaps Is ia more specially a ally adapted to a very special home and very peculiar habits of lito lifo the iho amo species or other forms so ao cloudy closely amilar as to seem more varieties varie tieu are aie found in in almott almost every country in the wor world id where there lira are mountain streams and yet it is a species having lie very near of affinity fialty with uny any other bird and it constitutes by itself a separate parate eo genus it is therefore there toro a of great interest to the naturalist and dalsoo some soma of tho the m moba perplexing questions eon with the ilia 11 origin or of species in 1871 a pair of these birds built their next ut at Inver inverary ary in in a hole la in the wall of 0 a small email tunnel to carry a private rivulet under tho ilia walks of a pleasure ground tho llie season was ono oni of great at drought and ami the rivulet during the whole timo of incubation and tho growth of 0 tho the young in ia th the nest emest was nearly dry ono of tho the elleg el lug fully fledged was taken out by the hand for examination an 1111 operation which so BO alarmed the tha others that they darted out of the holo hole and ran and flattered flatte reil down tho the tunnel toward its mouth at that point a considerable pool of water had bad survived Bur the tha drought and lay in the path of the fugitives they did no not t all appear to seek it on the contrary rury their llight flight seemed to ha bo us as ain aimless aless as that of any other fledgling would ha havo yo been in the same bunio predicament redi cament but onu ona of them stumbled fea into the pool the fleet effect VM s most curious curio iu when the young bird touched the water vater there was VM a moment of pause as it if the creature was wa surprised then instantly iQ there seemed to wake within it tho the sense of its hereditary powers down it dived with all the facility of f its parents and tho ilia notion action of its wings under the water was A beautiful exhibition of the double adaptation to progression in two very different elements ole menta which is la peculiar to the ilia wings of 0 most of the diving birds the ilia young dipper was immediately lost to light eight among some weeds weeda and so BO long did ail it remain under water that I 1 feared it must rabat be drowned but bat in due time it reappeared all right and being recaptured was replaced in the neet neat fuuko dake of argyl argy A in in ee be view |