44 THE RIVER-SIDE NATURALIST. 



Whitaker, one made in the middle of a tangle of weeds 

 which had attached itself to a low branch of a tree over- 

 hanging the stream. 



As we have remarked above, this bird is at once recog- 

 nised from all other birds of the rivers and reeds by his 

 white breast ; the back is brownish-black, the head and 

 neck umber-brown, the under parts chestnut. 



THE DABCHICK. 



The LITTLE GREBE or DABCHICK (Podiceps minor) 

 family, Podicipedidce has various provincial names, as 

 Dabchick, Small Doucher, Dabber, Dive-Dapper. 



THE LITTLE GREBE DABCHICK. 



This bird, like the moor-hen, is found on all still waters, 

 large or small, and on most, if not all, of our rivers, par- 

 ticularly on our chalk-streams. It is most destructive to 

 and devours vast quantities of fry and yearling fish of all 

 kinds, as well as the ova. The following from the Fishing 

 Gazette shows their propensity for this kind of food : 



" On many trout-streams dabchicks may now be seen 

 disporting themselves in places where they are not seen at 

 any other period of the year. By a curious coincidence, 

 these same places are just where the trout are spawning. 

 I recently counted no less than six dabchicks on a lonely 

 shallow in the Kennet, feeding bravely on the bottom. 

 Each bird dived about ten times in a minute, and if each 

 dive resulted in the destruction of a trout-egg, it will, by a 

 simple arithmetical calculation, be discovered that trout-eggs 

 were being destroyed at the rate of 3600 per hour. 



