THE EITTLE GREBE 
movements on the land are much more graceful. It 
seldom flies far, although able enough to make a prolonged 
journey in the air. Its note is a shrill weet. If alarmed 
its usual method of escape is to dive with the quickness of 
a flash, rising again many yards away, and diving again and 
again if pursued. Most of its food is obtained from the 
water, and consists of tiny fish, tadpoles, insects, molluscs, 
and the tender shoots and buds of plants. I have often 
remarked that Little Grebes in the remoter suburban 
areas are very much more wary than those individuals 
frequenting the parks. In some cases at least this bird 
gathers into flocks for the winter, but in summer it is a 
solitary species, each pair keeping to a particular haunt 
and resenting intrusion. ‘The breeding season com- 
mences in March, and, as several broods are reared, 
usually prolonged into July or August. The nest, more 
or less floating, and built up from the bottom of the water, 
is concealed amongst reeds and rushes, but sometimes 
rests on the marshy ground of the banks, hidden by 
overhanging brambles and other vegetation. It is a 
heaped-up mass of rotten vegetation of many kinds, 
trodden and matted together, with a small cavity at the 
top rather more neatly finished. ‘The four to six eggs 
are lustreless white, and soon become stained by the wet 
nest and feet of the parents. ‘The old bird covers them 
with marvellous celerity when disturbed, and before 
leaving them. ‘The chicks take to the water at once, and 
are often carried under the parent’s wings as she dives 
with them to a place of safety. 
The adult male Little Grebe in breeding plumage has 
the general colour of the upper parts brownish black ; 
the wings are brown, the secondaries marked with white ; 
the chin, upper throat, and space below the eye are 
black; the lower throat, the cheeks, and the front of the 
neck are chestnut, the remaining under parts brownish 
black, except the under surface of the wing, which is 
315 
