18 A BIRD COLLECTOR’S MEDLEY. 
September, one of these birds was in full breeding plumage and I was most 
eager to secure it. We must have got within thirty yards, and I must 
confess I regarded it as to all intents and purposes my bird. But I had been 
expecting it to dive, and when it rose instead and flew towards us I was so 
astonished that I stupidly blazed away both barrels while the Grebe was so 
close that I could see the red of its eye. I suppose such misses have been 
made before, when the bird has been going one way and the boat the other, 
but at the time the thing seemed incredible; I could hardly believe that I had 
lost it. My only consolation is the belief that, had I hit it at that distance, 
there would have been little left for anyone to stuff. 
