390 ENGLISH BIRD LIFE 



The nests of both the Waterhen and the Coot have 

 been known to drift from their moorings, and the 

 birds have thus reared their young on a floating 

 raft of reeds. But they, in common with other 

 aquatic fowl, seek a nesting-place which, in the 

 first instance at any rate, shall be secure and dry. 

 But with the Grebes the nest is often a mere pad 

 of dank sedge, constantly saturated and liable to 

 float in any direction, save that the place selected 

 is usually a small lagoon in the heart of the reed- 

 bed, where the high stems growing on every hand 

 guard the drifting nursery against a far-extended 

 voyage. 



Other peculiarities of the Grebes are that they 

 frequently swallow their own feathers, which may 

 be found in a compacted mass in the stomach; 

 that when disturbed they conceal the eggs wdtb 

 blades and stems rapidly torn from their sur- 

 roundings by the bird's bill, and that they show- 

 singular care for their young, when the little black 

 dots first take to the water. 



In the reeds of the Heron-lake the Little Grebes 

 nest annually, and sometimes, if the boat be 

 steered gently along the windings of the narrow 

 waterway, an interesting sight may be seen. As 

 we draw nearer to the nesting-place, half-hidden 

 by the forest of rushes, we gain no glimpse of the 

 bird, but a movement on the face of the still lagoon, 

 as of a diving water-rat, followed by a slight 

 vibration in the reeds, warns us that the parent 

 Grebe has been startled from her home by our 

 coming. For a long time there is silence, broken 



