12 KNOWING BIRDS THROUGH STORIES 



and still be surrounded with abundance of water. This, 

 soaking up through the bottom of the heap, would cause it 

 to ferment and so make the nest always warm and snug. 

 Many of their fellows elected to build by wallowing a de- 

 pression in the earth near the edge of the water, and when 

 their young hatched they found themselves in an appar- 

 ently dangerous position, for many of the animals that 

 hunt the shores of lakes would use them in the form of a 

 good meal. 



As the great diver gazed over the delightful expanse of 

 water, at some distance he saw a handsome bird almost 

 as large as a goose but with shorter neck, gliding over the 

 surface of the water. Instinct told him that this was his 

 mother. This bird had a black head and neck, while her 

 black back and wings were heavily and irregularly spotted 

 with white. Her belly and breast were whitish, tho he 

 could not see much of this, for she swam so low that only 

 the top of her back showed above the water. 



At the other end of the lake a similar bird was diving 

 and playing in the water. This was his father who, choos- 

 ing to leave the feeding grounds near the nest to his busy 

 wife, did his own fishing farther away. Suddenly the 

 mother disappeared under the surface of the lake and 

 presently arose with a fish in her mouth. Carrying this 

 to the edge of the nest she proceeded to tear off strips 

 of flesh and after thoroughly macerating these she 

 placed them in the diver's mouth and he ate them 

 greedily. 



When his appetite was satisfied, his mother cleaned out 

 the remaining pieces of egg shell from the nest, put her 

 house in order and clambered on the nest to brood her off- 



