Cliff-Birds^ andtJieir Colonies. 99 



of overflow in a sudden freshet of 

 the burn. It was lined with a pro- 

 fusion of down and feathers, and in 

 the centre was a compact ball of 

 more down, queerly mottled and 

 marked. The mother bird was 

 away. I stooped to examine more 

 closely ; I even attempted to handle 

 that odd-looking ball in the middle, 

 when, with a sudden jerk that made 

 me start, the mottled thing broke up 

 into a brood of tiny teals, which fled 

 headlong, into the water, and utterly 

 disappeared. 



The stream widened just here into 

 a miniature lake, and in it the crea- 

 tures, by some mysterious means, 

 remained hidden as long as I stayed 

 on the bank. Not a glimpse of a 

 head, not a point of a bill was to be 

 seen, not a ripple on the water. No 

 sound nor sign of the scuttling 

 company that had vanished into it 

 in such surprising style ! I suppose 

 they had dived into the pool, swam 



