SECOND WEEK IN JUNE 125 
with a soft chalky substance, giving them the 
colour described, and looked, therefore, much 
like wild ducks’ eggs of this shade. We saw 
the mother bird go back to her eggs immedi- 
ately we were out of the way. She was no 
doubt very anxious about them, for they 
felt heavy, were slightly cracked here and 
there, and were much soiled, showing that 
they were very near hatching. (I saw five 
young birds later on swimming about.)! ‘here 
were no signs of the male, and I do not know 
what part he takes, if any, in the building of 
the nest and the tending of the young. 
Carrion Crow Island was close by but I think 
the grebes, with their long sharp pointed beaks, 
and even the female alone, would have been 
quite a match for these annoying marauders 
had they interfered. The fact of the great 
crested grebe building here shows that the rarer 
birds can be attracted even though so near 
London provided they are not disturbed. With- 
ina hundred yards of the grebe’s nest, we had 
found in former seasons (see Parts I and II) 
1 All these young birds were shot here the following 
winter, ‘ to be stuffed,’ I was told. 
