332 



BIRD-LIFE IN WESTERN CANADA 



downy chicks are held beneath the wing, whence the heads 

 protrude through the tertiaries, they are taken under the 

 water. 



The feather-eating habit of Grebes is well known but I 

 believe it has never been explained. Possibly the adults 

 may swallow the feathers secured through their frequent 



Coot's Xest with Newly Hatched Young 



preening, but I am at loss to understand why chicks not 

 more than three days old should have their stomachs tight- 

 ly stuffed with a ball of their parents ' feathers. In the stom- 

 ach of one I found a compact wad of 238 feathers, and in 

 another there were no less than 331. All were the smaller 

 body feathers of the adult Grebe. 



While the Grebes and Coots were the ruling spirits of 

 the water, the Yellow-headed Blackbird was as clearly the 



