The Little Grebe. 153 



enough to capture a dabchick alive. It was caught on 

 the Wye River, near the town of Ross, and displayed 

 a remarkable pugnacity, biting and scratching at the 

 hand which held it, just as do the tomtits. Placed 

 in a tub of water, it dived instantly, and swam round 

 and round underneath, its mode of subaqueous pro- 

 gression, as my friend describes it, resembling that of 

 the frog. Minnows, water beetles, and other insects 

 dropped into the tub it refused to touch, though likely, 

 had it been kept longer, the promptings of hunger would 

 have caused it to act differently. On the second day of 

 its captivity my friend restored it to freedom, letting it 

 off on a large pond in the neighbourhood, when it went 

 under the water like a shot, not coming up again till 

 nearly a score yards off. 



The rapidity with which the Little Grebe disappears 

 beneath the surface is something remarkable, in this re- 

 spect equalling any of its kindred. When a boy, my first 

 gun was a flintlock, percussion pieces being then rare ; 

 and right well do I remember that to kill a didipper, in 

 clear daylight, it was necessary to blind the flash from the 

 pan with a screen of paper, or a leafy branch. 



Some English ornithologists speak of this bird as 

 migratory disappearing in the winter. This, however, 

 must be taken as referring to lakes, ponds, and other 

 stagnant waters, when frozen up. Then the dabchick 

 must needs shift quarters nolens volens. But when it 

 has its haunt on the running river unless this be also 

 icebound I believe it sticks to it throughout the entire 

 year. Certainly, it is not a migratory species in the 

 sense of periodical migration. 



