THE PIED-BTLLED GREBE. 



891 



The trouble began when we were boys. 



We had lieen entru^teil with 



our tlrst gun, a re-bored arniv carbine, and we were intent on slaughter. 

 We saw a duck on a pond an<l we trennilousl_\- pulled trigger. The landscape 

 was suddenly blotted out and when we returned to consciousness there was 

 no duck in sight, nor shattered remains, nor feathers. What did it mean! 

 W'e knew we had not missed. Nothing could have withstood that l)linding 

 assault and at such close range. 



So we retu.rned bruised in spirit, and tlie 



Taken on Brook Lake. Photo by the Author. 



NEST .\.\D EGGS OF THE t^ED-BILLED GREBE. 



neighbor boys told us with great glee that we had shot at (mark tlie ])re]jo- 

 sition ) a "hell-diver." We are not profane, but we draw a fierce satisfaction 

 from the appellation, and we cherish our wrath against a creature which 

 is so inconsiderate as to av(.iid the flash of a gun at twenty yards. 



More recently we ha\'e been trying to studv the Grebe's nesting habits 

 and have made overtures, sijmetimes friendl\', sometimes frantic; but still the 

 wily water-witch cultivates retiracy and will not be limed or limned, save as a 

 paludicoline pest whose specialty is alibis. 



