THE LITTLE GREBE, OR DABCHICK. 



533 



a miniature Duck no longer than a Blackbird. It does not, 

 like the Moor-hen, swim with a jerking movement, nor 

 when alarmed does it half swim and half fly in a direct 

 line for the nearest bank of weeds. If you are unobserved, 

 it swims steadily for a short distance, then suddenly dis- 

 appears, making no splash or noise, but slipping into the 

 water as if its body were lubricated. It is diving for its 

 food, which consists of water insects, mollusks, small fish 



A^ 



THE LITTLE GREBE, OR DABCHICK. 



and worms. As suddenly as it dives so suddenly does it 

 reappear, most likely not far from the spot where you first 

 observed it : 



" A di-dapper peering through a wave, 

 Who, being looked on, ducks as quickly in." 



Shakspeare. 



Another short swim and it dives again: and so it goes 

 on, the time spent under the water being far in excess 

 of that employed m taking breath. Advance openly. 



