BY THE SIDE OF THE WATERS 345 



stems, the dark brown head of a crested grebe is observed. 



The rich brown tippet and earlike crest has long been 



moulted, and will not be replaced until the mating time. 



The bird shuffles up on to a lump 



of matted leaves, sits bolt upright, 



standing indeed on its 



flat feet, and begins to 



rearrange a few ruffled 



feathers. Then his 



keen eye catches sight of us, and 



with a quick header down into the 



water he goes, leaving scarcely a 



ripple behind him ; nor does he 



reappear again within the area of 



our pool. We are more fortunate in 



watching a dun-headed goosander 



which repeatedly dives, reappearing 



perhaps with a small roach between 



its mandibles. Fresh-water fishes 



are as readily devoured by the 



'sawbill ' as marine species. From 



the crop of one shot in the Broads 



some years since, seventeen small 



roach were recovered, a goodly 



meal indeed. 



Now and again a long spell 

 of frosty weather locks up the 



Broads and rivers beneath a thick coating of ice, when 

 the wherries are unable to leave their moorings for weeks 

 together. Then are the wild creatures sadly put to for their 

 means of subsistence, the tail-flicking moorhens sneak into 

 the neighbourhood of the farmsteads, the coots flock to the 

 tidal estuaries, where the ice breaks above the sinuous creeks 



BEARDED TITS 



