i8 A BIRD COLLECTOR'S MEDLEY. 



September, one of these birds was in full breeding plumage and I was most 

 eager to secure it. We must have got within thirty yards, and I must 

 confess I regarded it as to all intents and purposes my bird. But I had been 

 expecting it to dive, and when it rose instead and flew towards us I was so 

 astonished that I stupidly blazed away both barrels while the Grebe was so 

 close that I could see the red of its eye. I suppose such misses have been 

 made before, when the bird has been going one way and the boat the other, 

 but at the time the thing seemed incredible ; I could hardly believe that I had 

 lost it. My only consolation is the belief that, had I hit it at that distance, 

 there would have been little left for anyone to stuff. 



