A SUBURBAN ESTATE 25 



weed. In a children's book published a few years 

 ago, there was a very remarkable chapter on natural 

 history. This dealt chiefly with birds, and there 

 were some wonderful illustrations and descriptions of 

 the inhabitants of birdland. One of these was the 

 little grebe. The nest pictured was more like a 

 crow's nest. We were told that if the dabchick 

 thought there was danger near, it paddled its nest to 

 a safer place, and the picture actually showed it in 

 the very act that is, with one foot on the shore and 



DABCHICK SITTING 



the other in the nest, pushing off in the same way as 

 a boatman might send his craft into the water ! The 

 dabchick is a wonderful water-bird, yet with its 



