THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. l8 3 



reservoir, which had but slight crests and no facial ruffs, heads and backs dusky, 

 neck and under parts of a less pure white than in the adults. They did not 

 remain, and this is the only occasion on which I have known birds in this 

 plumage to appear in spring on that water, those which arrive to breed there 

 being invariably in the nuptial plumage, although their bright colours and 

 ornaments are not always fully developed when their arrival takes place at an 

 early date. 



If they are not actually paired on their arrival at their breeding haunts, 

 pairing takes place almost immediately after their arrival, and in any case a con- 

 siderable amount of courtship may be observed as spring comes on, and all through 

 the early part of the season the male pays his partner a great deal of attention. 

 Bowing and nodding, and alternately raising his long neck and lowering it until 

 his head rests on his back, the male swims round his mate, then draws quietly 

 alongside her, when some approach to billing may occasionally be observed. On 

 the 24th June, I watched a pair, wh'-h had probably lost their young, behaving 

 in a very affectionate manner, and, as far as I could see, feeding one another. 

 This fine bird, when undisturbed at its breeding haunts, is not at all difficult to 

 observe, and in my experience is usually less shy than its smaller relative, the 

 Dabchick. In spring they are frequently seen to take wing, without any apparent 

 difficulty, and to fly for a considerable distance, an elevation of five or ten feet 

 being occasionally, but rarely, attained. At this season, in addition to using the 

 guttural monosyllabic alarm note hek or kek, Grebes are sometimes very clamorous, 

 uttering their note several times in succession. The birds are indeed rather noisy, 

 and whether a fight between rival males is taking place, or the birds are merely 

 sportively taking rushing shallow dives, a great splashing of the water is often 

 occasioned. When assured, they float high in the water, but an alarmed Grebe can 

 sink its body almost entirely beneath the water. When making their escape by 

 diving, they seem only just to rise to the surface between their dives, and travel 

 for a considerable distance before showing themselves again. Even when simply 

 desirous of removing themselves to a more comfortable distance from an observer, 

 they proceed by a succession of long dives, merely remaining on the surface for 

 a few seconds to take an observation on their own account. If the surface of the 

 water is ruffled it is easy for a Grebe to get away without showing itself, until 

 it has put a safe distance between itself and its pursuers. One hot calm September 

 afternoon, I noticed one of these birds close in shore, off a pebble beach on the 

 coast of Norfolk. I waited until it dived, then ran a little way and lay down 

 until it came up and went down again, then got a little nearer to the bird. It 

 remained below the surface while I counted eighty or ninety. The third time, 



