CHAPTER XCVIII 



THE ''DOB-CHICKEN" 



Strange as it may appear at first sight, in all that vast acre- 

 age of broad water and river that roams and dots the Broad- 

 land, but few " dob-chickens " will be found ; 'tis really a 

 rather rare bird in the district, and chiefly to be met with in 

 the quieter rivers — not that it prefers running water every- 

 where, for I have seen numbers disporting on a great Irish 

 loch (Lough Erne), but never far from the shore. How- 

 ever, in the Broadland he is rare ; and methinks he cares 

 not for still and brackish water, and that is the secret of his 

 scarcity ; for most of the rivers (below locks), and many of 

 the broads, are brackish, in some places seventy-five grains 

 of " salts " being found to the gallon of water. Soakage 

 from the sea, salt springs, tides, and saline water pumped from 

 the marsh dikes, which in the winter hold Salter water than 

 outside, all contribute to the salinity ; and I have a notion 

 that such waters are not beloved of the grebes, for the great 

 crested bird loves best the inland broads, such as Ormesby, 

 Wroxham ; and the lesser grebe, or dob-chicken, I have 

 seen in greater numbers about the locks on the rivers than 

 elsewhere, though I have seen them about the outlets of the 

 mills, where the water is shallow, and often running purer after 

 rain ; perhaps he can catch his fish better in running water 

 — at an3'rate, I have never seen any on the open broad, or 

 upon the open lakes of Scotland or Ireland, but always round 

 the gladen and reeds. But never in all my wanderings on 

 the broads have I seen the nest, though I have met a few 

 " eggers " who have at intervals found their nests, which are, 



