PLATE II 

 LITTLE GREBE. Podicipes flumatilis 



May 29//;, 1895. This nest was built in the outskirts of a huge bed of 

 reeds on the north shore of the Lake of Monteith. The bird was not on 

 the nest when I first discovered it, and there were only two eggs, which were 

 not covered. On my return from taking some photographs at the other side 

 of the lake, however, she was on the nest, and allowed me to come within 

 about twenty yards before she hastily covered her eggs and dived away from 

 the nest. 



I secured a photograph of the nest, covered up as she had left it, and 

 planted my camera in the water beside some thick reeds about twelve feet 

 from the nest, set it, and retired some distance off, with a thread to the 

 shutter, to try and get a photograph of the bird on the nest. I sat there 

 about a quarter of an hour before I saw her; she dived some way from the 

 nest and appeared between it and the camera, but, catching sight of this 

 strange object, she dived at once, and reappeared about ten yards away on 

 the farther side of the nest. I waited a long time to see if she would go to 

 the nest, but nothing would induce her to get on to it, though she dived about 

 all round it, and I had to give it up at last. 



I visited this nest again some time later, and found one young one and 

 two eggs in the nest. The old birds were very anxious when I came close, 

 and kept diving about round the nest, and uttering a plaintive ' weet-iueet '.' 

 When I took the little bird in my hand one of the old ones came quite near, 

 and splashed along the top of the water, just as an old Mallard does when 

 she is disturbed with her young. When I left the nest the old birds 

 immediately covered the two eggs, and one of them held up its wings and 

 took the young bird under them, diving away with it to some safer place. 

 The Little Grebe is a wonderful diver, and seems to swim as much under 

 water as above it. I never saw either of the birds approach the nest on the 

 surface ; they always dived some way off and appeared just beside it. 



There was splendid feeding for the Grebes in this rush-bed, and I found 

 two other pairs with nests not fifty yards distant. 

 2C 97 



