THE HORNED GREBE 9 



to catch fish under water. Whether this is true or not I 

 do not know, but no bird with which I am acquainted is 

 more expert at diving. They are usually found either 

 solitary or in pairs; altho in my childhood it was not 

 unusual to find flocks of a dozen or more. Now they are 

 rare. 



Some months ago my old father found one of these 

 birds waddling about among the "buckbrush" on our 

 school farm very near my house. Evidently it was mi- 

 grating and for some reason or other had been forced to 

 the ground. Here it was all but helpless, and father had 

 no trouble in catching it. The poor creature had evidently 

 been wandering about for hours, trying to reach water; 

 but it was found more than a quarter of a mile from the 

 Cumberland river, its nearest safety. Any bird or beast 

 of prey passing that way would have found an easy break- 

 fast. We kept it for a few hours, let the children see it, 

 and then carried it off to the river. We attempted to feed 

 it, but it refused all food and was perfectly delighted when 

 it finally got its feet in the water. The first thing it did 

 was to dive as far out from the shore as it could go, 

 evidently still fearing that our intentions were to do it in- 

 jury in spite of the fact that we had been its rescuers. 



I have not told you that these birds were grebes. 

 Grebes are queer looking birds. Their legs are set so 

 far back that they walk almost straight up, as they have 

 no tail. Few birds find it harder to walk, which probably 

 accounts for this one's habit of nesting on a raft. 



We have several kinds of grebes, but the horned variety 

 is one of the most abundant species. It is called "horned" 

 because in mating time the male develops brilliantly col- 

 ored "horns" that are very conspicuous. Now they mostly 



