28 HILLSIDE, ROCK, AND DALE 



She slightly raised her wings, and the youngsters 

 five in all crowded underneath. When all were out 

 of sight she dived, with her famjly under her wings, 

 and came up some considerable distance away. 

 This alone shows what perfect swimmers and divers 

 these extremely interesting birds are. 



When the young were about four weeks old the 

 parents constructed another nest, but this was blown 

 from its moorings during a violent storm. However, 

 a third nest was made in a more secure place, and 

 the eggs were duly hatched. A share in looking 

 after the second brood falls to the lot of the young 

 of the first family ; and when all these are full- 

 grown they make their way to other ponds, and are 

 sometimes even driven by their parents, thus leaving 

 the latter in sole possession of a haunt where there 

 is not sufficient accommodation. " One-room life," 

 or overcrowding, is far from being in accordance with 

 the views of the knowing old birds of the little grebe 

 species. 



Near the grebes' home is a small spinny, or wood, 

 and in this I found a most charming variety of bird 

 life. About half-way down the strip of woodland 

 stands the trunk of an old tree; holes surround the 

 summit, and for a short distance the interior is 

 hollow. A pair of tawny owls have their nest here, 

 and when we found them in their home one of the 

 birds was sitting on four eggs. As I looked into 



