A PAIR OF DABCHICKS 297 



the male, as I will assume, and which, I think, is 

 probable swimming up to the nest. It brought 

 some weeds in its bill, which it gave to the sitting 

 bird, who took and laid them on the nest ; and 

 now the male commenced diving, in a quick, active, 

 brisk little way, each time, upon coming up, bring- 

 ing a little more weed to the nest, which he some- 

 times placed himself, sometimes gave to the female. 

 Several times he passed right under the nest, from 

 side to side. I now made a slight detour, and 

 creeping up behind a hedge, found, when I raised 

 my head, that both the birds had disappeared. Yet 

 I was only a few paces nearer than the roadway, 

 which shows how much habit had to do with 

 making the birds feel secure. Walking, now, along 

 the bank of the stream, I examined the nest more 

 closely. It was built, I found, on the but just 

 emerging end of a water-logged branch, the butt of 

 which rested on the bottom. No eggs were visible, 

 but I could see, very well, where they had been 

 most efficiently covered over, according to the bird's 

 usual, but by no means invariable, habit. Upon 

 my going back to the roadway, and standing 

 where I had been before, one of the birds almost 

 immediately reappeared, and swimming boldly up 

 to the nest, leapt on to it as does the great crested 

 grebe, but in a less lithe, and more dumpy manner. 

 Then, still standing, it removed, with its bill, the 

 weeds lately placed there, putting a bit here and 

 a bit there, with a quick side-to-side motion of the 

 head, and then sank down amongst them, evidently 

 on the eggs. I left at 8.15. There had been no 

 change on the nest, but I may have missed this, by 



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