LITTLE GREBE, OR DABCHICK 345 



drawn in from the edge of the nest. It is hard to believe, with 

 Seebohm, that the object of this action is to keep the eggs warm. 

 The nest is, in very many cases, conspicuous to the eye, but on the 

 slightest alarm the sitting-bird quickly and deftly draws the dead, 

 wet materials like a blanket over the eggs, and, slipping off, dives 

 silently, to come up at a considerable distance, usually where it 

 cannot be seen. The nest then presents the appearance of a mere 

 bunch of dead and water-soaked weeds or grass floating on the 

 surface. I have examined a good many nests, and am convinced 

 that the eggs are covered to hide them from the sight of egg-robbing 

 animals, and that only the egg-robber that is neither furred nor 

 feathered, and is well acquainted with the habits of the bird, is 

 capable of seeing through this pretty deception. 



The dabchick has the curious habit of holding its young under its 

 wings and diving from the nest, to take them out of danger. Like 

 its neighbour, 'the moorhen, the little grebe sometimes begins to 

 breed a second time, before the young of the first brood are able to 

 take proper care of themselves ; and it has been observed in such cases 

 that while one of the parents incubated the eggs in the new nest, 

 the other has remained in charge of the partly grown young. The 

 nest is used by the young birds after they are able to swim and 

 dive, and while resting on it their parents bring them food. 



The three remaining species of the grebe family (Podicipidae) 

 included in the avifauna of the United Kingdom are the red- 

 necked grebe (Podiceps griseigena), a rare winter visitor to the 

 British coasts ; the Sclavonian grebe (P. auriius), a not uncommon 

 winter visitor to Scotland, Ireland, and the north and east coasts of 

 England ; and the eared grebe (P. nigrocollis), an irregular visitor, 

 usually in spring, to the southern and eastern districts of England. 



Razorbill. 

 Alca torda. 



Upper parts greenish black ; deep brown on the throat ; under 

 parts white. Length, seventeen inches. 



The black and white razorbill, with curiously shaped massive 

 beak, viewed sitting on a rock, its body inclined a little forward, 

 may give us some idea of the great auk's appearance. It is less 



