CHAP, xviii.] NIGHTJAR QUAIL-GREBE. 147 



dead. Often, when I have been fishing late in the evening, has 

 the nightjar flitted round, or pitched on a rock or bank close to 

 me, as if inclined to take an interest in what I was at confident, 

 too, of not being molested. Its retreat in the daytime is usually 

 in some lonely wild place. Though feeding wholly at night, J 

 do not think that it is annoyed by sunshine, as it frequently basks 

 in an open spot, appearing to derive enjoyment from the light 

 and glare which are shining full upon it ; unlike the owl, whose 

 perch in the daytime is in some dark and shady corner, where 

 the rays of the sun never penetrate. 



The quail is sometimes killed here, but very rarely. I once 

 shot a couple on the Ross-shire side of the Moray firth, but 

 never happened to meet with one on this side, though I have 

 heard of their being killed, and also of their having been seen in 

 the spring time, as if they came occasionally to breed. 



Another singular bird visits this country regularly in the 

 spring, the lesser grebe (in England commonly called the dab- 

 chick). It is difficult to understand how this bird makes out its 

 journey from the region, wherever it may be, where they pass 

 the winter. No bird is less adapted for a long flight, yet they 

 suddenly appear in some rushy loch. Generally a pair take pos- 

 session of some small pool, where they build their singular nest 

 and rear their young, till the returning autumn warns them that 

 it is time to return to some country less liable than this to have 

 its pools and lochs frozen. In a small rushy pond in Inverness- 

 sliire I had frequent opportunities of observing their domestic 

 economy, and the manner in which they build their nest and rear 

 their young. Thouffh there was no stream connecting this pool 

 with any other larger piece of water, a pair, and only a pair of 

 these little grebes came to it ever}' spring. After two or three 

 days spent in recruiting their strength and making love to each 

 other, the little birds set about making their nest in a tuft of 

 rushes, at a shallow part of the water, a few yards from the 

 shore. They first collected a considerable quantity of dead 

 rushes, which they found in plenty floating about the edges of 

 the water. Both male and female were busily employed in 

 building, swimming to and fro with the greatest activity. After 

 laying a good foundation of this material, they commenced diving 

 for the weeds which grew at the bottom of the water, bringing 



