GREBES. 



409 



-would seem, from any desire to vary its food, but simply to avoid being frozen 

 up. The loon is found in lakes throughout a great portion both of the east- 

 ern and western hemispheres, but not very far to the north. It rarely flies, 

 except at the period of migration, when it passes swiftly through the air with 

 neck and feet extended to their full length. It builds its nest amongst rushes 

 and decaying reeds, but little above the level of the water, and lays four white 

 eggs, the male assisting his partner in the work of incubation. The young 

 can dive and swim immediately that they are hatched ; but if the mother be 

 suddenly alarmed while they are with her, she takes them under her wing and 

 dives with them."~REV. C. A. Johns. 



IS. 



Fig. 201.— The Crested Grece {Podiceps crisiatiis). 



" The well-known Dab-chick, or Little Grebe, is the smallest and com- 

 monest of the British species, being found in most rivers, lakes, or large 

 ponds, where the weeds and rushes afford it concealment and a foundation 

 for its nest. It is a pretty little bird, quick and alert in its movements, and, 

 like the rest of the grebes, has a great love for water and an invincible anti- 

 pathy to land. When alarmed, it dives so instantaneously that the eye can 

 hardly follow its movements, and if, at the moment of its emergence, it per- 

 ceives itself to be still in danger, it again dives, not having been on the surface 

 for a single second of time. Like many other aquatic birds, it can sink itself 

 in the water slowly, and often does so when uneasy, rising again if relieved 

 from its anxiety, or disappearing, as if jerked under the surface from below. 

 They may be often seen in a pond only a few yards across, thus diving and 



