Pond Life 
weed, but very small fish and water 
insects are doubtless eaten as_ well. 
Sometimes the parents will dive carrying 
a pair of youngsters with them, one under 
each wing, so that they soon learn to be 
as much at home below the water as 
above it. To rest these small creatures, 
the whole family would return to the nest 
about every hour, and at times the old 
birds would construct a fresh nest in 
some other place for the purpose. The 
building material always seems to be 
fetched from the bottom of the water, 
and it is very interesting to see them 
constantly bringing up lumps of weeds 
and leaves and pushing this on to the 
nest, arranging it with their beaks until 
they get it comfortable and to their satis- 
faction. Then one of the parents would 
climb up on her comical short legs, and 
Ii2 
