AMONG THE WaTER-FOWL 
As I slowly waded along, I could hear a constant 
succession of splashing, plunging sounds, as the 
birds dove from their nests to swim off under water. 
When I stood still for a few moments, they would 
return and suddenly emerge, sometimes within a 
yard of me, only to plunge again the instant they 
caught sight of the intruder. 
These grebe-homes, especially of the larger 
species, were quite seni affairs. Even the 
little ““Eared”’ fellows made better nests than in 
the other city where they were so huddled together. 
Possibly they were trying not to be outdone by the 
« Westerners, > or else the latter, who were in the 
majority, had enacted certain building regulations 
within the city limits! Yet, though the homes 
were larger, it was evident hat they belonged to 
the lower classes of bird society. This city, like 
the other, was shametully dirty. Eggs and even 
dead bias lay rotting in the water between the 
nests. The odour was so unpleasant as almost to 
nauseate our guide, who afterwards ventured in 
with me. As for myself, I was so much taken up 
with the novelty of the situation that the “ mind- 
cure” effectually performed its work. 
How far the city extended, and what was its 
population, I made no great effort to ascertain, as 
even a moderate degree of progress was very dif- 
ficult. Wherever I went there were nests, acres 
and acres of them. In parts of the town the larger 
species dwelt alone; in others the nests of the two 
kinds were intermingled in about equal numbers. 
Three eggs was the usual complement in the nests 
of both species, often four, but more than that I did 
18 
