242 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



and violent storm of rain, we proceeded in search of 

 the Great Grebe again. 



It was with difficulty discovered swimming very 

 low in the water, and showing little more than head 

 and neck, and oftentimes invisible amid the rough 

 waves. As the boat approached within gunshot, and 

 a cartridge sped over the water, the bird, with 

 scarcely an effort, disappeared, and in a prolonged 

 dive soon doubled the distance between itself and 

 its pursuer. Stretching to the oars again, we drew 

 near, and another charge of No. 5 was sent after the 

 hapless Grebe, but apparently ducking the flash it 

 escaped the shot, and appeared in an unexpected 

 direction two hundred yards away. The diving 

 powers possessed by this bird are so extraordinary 

 that, to one who has never seen it, a true descrip- 

 tion would appear an exaggeration. In an hour's 

 hard rowing we could never keep pace with the bird, 

 and shot after shot was fired, at long distances, while, 

 like a phantom, it escaped unscathed. Once, arid 

 once only, in the pelting storm, did it rise upon the 

 wing ; hemmed into a corner it was forced either 

 to dive under the boat or fly. The right trigger had 

 been pulled as it sat upon the water, and the cap 

 snapped, when the bird, stretching its long narrow 

 wings, flew low across the bows, a fair cross-shot ; 

 but, in the previous excitement of rowing, the gun 

 had got wet, and a deliberate and confident aim only 

 resulted in the vexation of another misfire, while the 



