I built the amplified ear found at
http://www.electronics-lab.com/projects/audio/023/

I do get some noise out of it that sounds a lot like one of these listening
devices but thats it. No sounds are picked up by the mic.

I used a condensor microphone taken from an old panasonic tape recorded. It
has a blue and a red wire. I also swopped them around. Nothing.

What could be wrong. All trannies have hfe's of 140-180.

Also, what does the dashed line between C6 and SW1 in the circuit represent?
I don't have such a connection in my circuit.