LITTLE GREBE. 211 



in the nest, and then paddled gently off. An hour afterwards 

 I found it very busy collecting weed to add to the nest ; it 

 made several journeys for the purpose, diving for the weed 

 it used. After a time it brought some food, but finding the 

 young ones would not take it, though it tried all round the nest, 

 it ate it itself. On the next day both birds were hard at work 

 adding to their nest; a strong breeze was blowing, and the waves 

 would in a very short time have washed it away if it had not 

 constantly been added to. On one occasion that the eggs 

 were uncovered, I ran to the nest as fast as I could, but 

 one of the birds came back and covered the eggs in a moment. 

 Two eggs were still unhatched and one young bird was dead 

 in the nest. This brood was evidently a failure ; for eight 

 days afterwards, on the i3th of June, I found that a third 

 nest had been built near an island about fifteen yards from the 

 bank, and one of the birds was sitting upon it. Only on one 

 other occasion have I ever seen the eggs left uncovered, which 

 makes me think that the bird only covers her eggs when she 

 is driven from the nest. I once disturbed a Dabchick and her 

 young from the nest. They all dived away and disappeared in 

 different directions, and when the young birds came up the 

 parent swam alongside of them, and they scrambled under 

 her wings, which she held up for the purpose. She then 

 dived away, carrying with her the young birds, which might 

 have been two or three days old." 



I can quite endorse Mr. Seebohm's opinion of the worth oi 

 such observations as the above, especially in the case of such 

 a bird as the Little Grebe, whose habits are most difficult to 

 observe closely. I spent much time in studying the habits 

 of the present species in my younger days. The birds were 

 common in Hampshire at Avington, where my old friend, 

 Sir Edward Shelley, used to invite me to visit him every spring. 

 Not only were these Grebes abundant on the Itchen and its 

 adjacent water-meadows, but several pairs bred on the lakes 

 close to the house. They were always visible towards evening, 

 and as the sun set over the waters, their curious trilling chatter 

 was sure to be heard as they swam about near the mill-pool, or 

 disported themselves over the big lake. In May, when the 

 Ducks were nesting, and the surface of the water became 

 covered with the growing reeds, the latter were the favourite 



p 2 



