30 4 BIRD LIFE GLIMPSES 



before, one brown egg lying in the cup, and per- 

 fectly exposed. All three chicks, therefore, must 

 have been on the back of the mother, who, it is 

 clear now, does not invariably cover the eggs, when 

 leaving them, even though she is quite at her ease, 

 and does not mean to return for some time. This 

 can have nothing to do with three out of the four 

 eggs having been hatched, for, as we have just seen, 

 the one egg was covered by the bird when she left 

 the nest the time before. I have settled it, I think, 

 now, by my observations, that, neither with the great 

 crested grebe nor the dabchick, is the covering of 

 the eggs, on leaving the nest, invariable. In walking 

 up the stream, after this, I got a glimpse of both the 

 dabchicks, before they dived, one after the other. 

 If the chicks were still upon the back of one as I 

 make no doubt they were they must have been 

 taken down with it. Next day I watched the family 

 during the greater part of the morning, and was 

 fortunate in seeing one of the chicks fed from the 

 water, whilst sitting in the nest, on the back of its 

 other parent. This was a delightfully distinct view. 

 There was a small piece of light green weed at the 

 tip of the parent's bill, and this the chick first 

 tasted, as it were, and then swallowed. There were 

 several changes on the nest, and the birds, between 

 them, left it five times, but only covered the egg 

 twice. However, on two of the occasions when it 

 was left bare, the other bird quickly appeared and 

 mounted the nest, whilst, on the third, the bird 

 leaving remained close to it, till she went on again. 

 Always, or almost always, the chicks were on the 

 back of one or other of the birds, mostly that of one, 



