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thought they would be fed, and were hungry, but 

 they did not seem disappointed, though they were 

 not, nor had I ever seen so much enthusiasm shown 

 before. However, as I say, this may be mere fancy, 

 but whether they prefer it or not, they certainly do 

 seem to sit much more on one parent, than on the 

 other. It would be difficult to imagine a more com- 

 fortable seat than the back of either must be. It is like 

 a large, flat powder-pufF — but a frightened powder- 

 puff, with its fluff standing all on end — whilst right 

 upon it, though, of course, far back, a tiny little 

 brush of a tail stands bolt upright. The wings, 

 as a rule, cover most of this, and it is under their 

 awning that the chicks, mostly, live. The chicks 

 are pretty little things. At first they look black 

 all over, but, on closer inspection, they are seen to 

 be striped longitudinally, like little tigers — black 

 and a soft, greyish yellow or buff — the beak being 

 a mahogany red. The young of the great crested 

 grebe are striped like this, also. Probably it is a 

 family pattern, and represents the ancestral colora- 

 tion, like the tartan of a Highlander, which, how- 

 ever, lasts through life — or used to. 



On the 13th of August, after having watched 

 them from the 8th, I made a discovery in regard 

 to this pair of dabchicks, and thus, through them, 

 the species, similar to that I had made with the 

 moorhens, in my pond — similar, but not, I think, 

 quite the same — and when I say a discovery, I mean, 

 of course, that it was one for myself, which is, in- 

 deed, all I care about. I had got to my watch-tower 

 before it was light, and could not, for some time, 

 make out the nest. At length, when I could see 



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