280 THE BIRDS ABOUT Us. 



revenge at times. A miller told me of a " speckled 

 goose" he had shot, and invited some friends to share 

 the subsequent feast with him. " It was the meanest 

 goose I ever tackled," was his concluding remark. 



In autumn, sometimes during the winter, and again 

 in early spring, there are seen upon our rivers and 

 larger ponds active duck-like birds, that swim away 

 from you rapidly if they think they are being watched, 

 and dive with startling suddenness if you attempt to 

 chase them. They are literally quick as a flash, and 

 dodge the coming charge of shot unless it happens 

 that your aim was not good, which is very probable. 

 These birds are pretty, and occasionally when they 

 rise up from the water and flap their wings they show 

 a silvery glistening breast that is very beautiful. 

 These birds are migrants and seek the far north to 

 breed, but are found with us off and on for nearly 

 nine months of each year. They are typical divers. 

 One of them Holboell's Grebe is rare in the Middle 

 States, but by no means unknown to the Delaware 

 Valley ; the other is the Horned Grebe, and is more 

 frequently seen. Dr. Coues " found it breeding at 

 various points in Northern Dakota, as along the Red 

 River, in the prairie sloughs, with Coots, Phalaropes, 

 and various Ducks, and in pools about the base of 

 Turtle Mountain in company with P, calif ornicus and 

 the Dabchick." 



This Dabchick, or Devil-diver, is so plain a bird 

 and so generally insignificant that it comes and goes 

 without causing the slightest ripple either on the 

 water or in our minds ; yet the little fellow is cun- 

 ning and a real attraction to our mill-ponds, where it 



