124 DABCHICK. 
him, and immediately afterwards falling upon his head. In 
Norfolk they are not uncommon at Yarmouth and elsewhere; 
also in Lincolnshire. In Nottinghamshire they: occur on the 
Trent. In Cornwall they are plentiful on Swanpool, near 
Falmouth. 
In Scotland the species is equally common as in England, 
in Sutherlandshire, Dumfriesshire, and other parts, and is 
commonly met with in the Frith of Forth; lkewise in 
Shetland and Orkney. So also in Ireland it is indigenous. 
In some parts of the country the Dabchick disappears, so 
it is said, in winter. In Yorkshire it is constantly seen at 
that season, as well as in summer, except indeed when its 
usual places of haunt are frozen up, and then, as a matter 
of course, it is obliged to quit them for a time. In frosty 
weather they are compelled from the larger pieces of stand- 
ing water to the running stream. 
This Grebe is naturally shy, but becomes accustomed to 
the sight of passers by the water that it inhabits, and its 
quick movements in diving may be watched not far off with 
little disturbance of its proceedings. They occusionally enter 
the sea close to the shore in those places where their 
accumstomed haunts are adjacent to it. 
The Dabchick, like some other birds previously mentioned, 
has the power of sinking its body under the water, the head 
only and tail being kept out, and of then submerging itself, 
if need be, and diving off to some distance, when it rises 
as suddenly as it went down, and with a shake of the 
head, urges itself on its way. If suddenly startled, it is 
curious to see how ‘instanter’ it vanishes with a quick 
plash; and this is even more especially to be admired, if it 
has risen to the surface after having been before alarmed, 
when, if the cause of disquietude is still visible, its descent 
again seems but a continuation of its upward movement. 
It is able to remain under the water for an almost 
incredible time, if need be, and when anxious to escape 
from threatening danger, rarely resorts to flight, though it 
will do so at times, but endeavours to conceal itself after 
the first alarm among the tangled plants that fringe the 
margin, or carpet the floor of its native element. 
If alarmed they dive, this, as just said, being the mode 
of escape they prefer to attempt. They are spirited birds, 
and when taken will attack any object within their reach. 
The young, when hatched, presently take to the water, and 
