TWO YOUNG NATURALISTS. 



271 



and it rested quietly in this position concealed entirely 

 from the eye, and would indeed have remained so for 

 hours had it been necessary. 



" The grebe is a very strange creature. Can you 

 guess what plan it has invented to save itself the 

 trouble of hatching its eggs ? It builds its nest at the 



LE (Ocypus olc/tit). 



surface of the water with green leaves and vegetables, 

 being apparently aware that this material in the pro- 

 cess of fermentation will develop sufficient heat to 

 enable the bird to dispense, at any rate to some extent, 

 with the process of incubation. 



" Better still ! As this fermentation could not be pro- 

 duced without a disengagement of deleterious gases, 



