298 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



alarming the birds, nor can I be quite sure whether 

 it was the same bird that went back to it. The 

 nest of these dabchicks seemed to me to be a larger 

 structure, in proportion to their size, than those of 

 the crested grebes which I had watched last year. 

 It rose, I thought, higher above the water, and was 

 less flat, having more a gourd or cocoa-nut shape. 

 Towards the summit it narrowed, so that the bird 

 sat upon a round, blunt pinnacle. 



At 7 next morning I found the bird — that is to 

 say, one of them — still upon the nest, and, shortly 

 afterwards, a boy drove some cows along a broad 

 margin of meadow, skirting the stream opposite to 

 where it was, so that he passed a good deal nearer 

 to it than I had crept up yesterday. It, however, 

 did not move, and was quite unnoticed by the boy. 

 Afterwards, I walked along the same margin, myself, 

 and sat down upon a willow stump, in full view of 

 the bird, in hopes to see it cover its eggs, should it 

 grow nervous and leave them. For a few minutes, 

 it sat still on the nest, and then, all at once, jumped 

 up and took the water, without arranging the 

 weeds at all, leaving the eggs, therefore, uncovered. 

 Instantly on entering the water, it dived, and I saw 

 nothing more of it whilst I remained seated on the 

 stump. But as soon as I went back to my place — 

 almost the moment I was there — up it came quite 

 close to the nest, dived again, emerged on the other 

 side, and then, swimming back to it, jumped on, and 

 reseated itself, without first removing any weeds — 

 thus confirming my previous observation. Shortly 

 afterwards the partner bird appeared, dipping up, 

 suddenly, not very far from the nest, and, for some 



