GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 457 



lake was a large bed of reeds, and as we rowed towards it we saw quite a 

 little fleet of Great Crested Grebes sail out. It was a most beautiful 

 sight; there may have been thirty or forty of them. Every now and 

 then one or two dived out of sight; occasionally a pair or two took 

 wing; and by-and-by the rest flew away together, and, wheeling round, 

 settled in the middle of the lake. Although it was the 30th of May the 

 reeds had not attained a fourth of their ultimate height, and jthe Grebes 

 had only just begun to breed. Many nests were empty, many contained 

 only a single egg, and none of them contained more than two. Although 

 the nests were exposed to the bird's-eye view of a passing Crow, on account 

 of the smallucss of the reeds none of the eggs were covered. 



A week afterwards I found a very large colony of Great Crested Grebes 

 on the Garda See, a lake close to the sea, about sixty miles west of the 

 Gulf of Danzig. They were breeding in an immense reed-bed, and as our 

 boat neared their nesting-grounds we saw the Grebes sailing majestically, 

 not to say indignantly, out of the side of the reed-bed. As soon as we 

 reached the place I put on my waders and was soon in a dense forest of 

 reeds, where it was very easy to lose one's way. The water was above my 

 knees, and the reeds were far above my head. After stopping to take the 

 nest of a Great Sedge-Warbler with four eggs, I soon found the colony 

 of Grebes. There were dozens of nests, but never very close to each 

 other, and I soon filled my handkerchief with eggs. It was the 5th of 

 June, and only about half the nests contained the full complement of 

 eggs. The birds had evidently seen us long before we approached, and 

 had had ample time to retreat with dignity. In the nests which con- 

 tained three or four eggs they were warm and covered with damp moss ; 

 but in those containing only one or two they were uncovered and 

 cold. This applied equally to nests on the outskirts of the reeds, where 

 the eggs could be seen by a passing Crow, and to those hidden in the 

 depths of the reed-bed. The natural inference is that the eggs are not 

 covered until the female begins to sit, and that the object of covering 

 them is not protective, at least in the technical sense in which that word 

 is now used. The Grebes cover their eggs, not to conceal them from, 

 enemies, but to protect them from cold. In the recesses of a dense 

 reed-bed white eggs are as inconspicuous as in a hole in a tree or in a 

 bank. 



The eggs of the Great Crested Grebe are green, as may be seen by 

 looking through the hole against the light; but this ground-colour is 

 almost entirely obscured by an irregular and often rough layer of chalky 

 white. The large end is seldom much more rounded than the small end. 

 They vary in length from 2'4 to 2'0 inch, and in breadth from 1*6 to 1*3 

 inch. Small eggs occasionally measure less in one of their dimensions 

 than large eggs of the Red-necked Grebe; but in that case the other 



VOL. in. 2 H 



