264 BIRDS OP NORFOLK. 



bottom of the river. I observed they did not make use 

 of their wings, only their legs ; they could not remain 

 under water long, although I endeavoured to keep them 

 under ; they went under the opposite shore, and just put 

 their head above the water, keeping their bodies quite 

 immersed." Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., also tells me that 

 on the 4th of May last he had a live dabchick brought 

 to him which he put into an aquarium for the purpose 

 of observing its mode of diving ; he found that the legs 

 only were used when progressing under water. He then 

 transferred it to a pond, where it could dive as deep as 

 it chose, with the result that there also he could not 

 detect any use of its wings when diving. 



Professor Newton has favoured me with the following 

 interesting note on the mode of progression of a very 

 young individual of this species : — " A newly hatched 

 little grebe will use its fore limbs as instruments of pro- 

 gression. A friend of mine brought me one which could 

 not have been more than twelve hours old, and when 

 laid on the table it crawled about and completely across 

 it, not actually sustaining its weight, it is true, by its 

 wings, but dragging itself forward by their means quite 

 as much as it impelled itself by its legs. The resem- 

 blance of its actions to those of any slowly moving 

 reptile was very remarkable." On holding a newly 

 hatched great crested grebe on my open hand one day 

 recently, I was struck by this remarkable mode of pro- 

 pulsion. Its body remained prone, and I could dis- 

 tinctly feel the pressure of its wings on my hand as it 

 partly raised itself, followed by the thrusting of its 

 largely developed extremities, each pair of limbs dis- 

 tinctly taking part in the forward motion. On placing 

 it on the edge of the nest it rapidly gained the centre in 

 the same manner, and this it repeated more than once. 

 At that time I was not aware of Professor Newton's 

 observation, or I should have watched the action even 

 more closely. Mr. J. H. Gurney, jun., informs me that 

 Mr. Hancock had one of these birds alive, which he 

 believes he kept in a bowl for goldfish, so that he could 

 see beneath it when it was floating on the water. 

 Mr. Hancock could not see the bird's legs, and found 

 that it tucked them up under the wings, and in this 



