174 BRITISH BIRDS. 



margins of the lake where it has taken up its abode. 

 It is a most excellent diver, and can remain a long 

 while under water, in pursuit of its prey, or to shun 

 danger. It is found in almost every lake, and 

 sometimes upon rivers, but seldom goes out to sea. 

 Its food is of the same kind, and its habits much 

 the same as those of the other Grebes. 



Ornithologists and sportsmen describe the nest 

 of this bird as being of a large size, and composed 

 of a very great quantity of grass and water plants, 

 at least a foot in thickness, and so placed in the 

 water, that the female hatches her eggs amidst the 

 continual wet, in which they were first laid : and it 

 is conjectured that the natural warmth of her body 

 occasions a fermentation of the herbage, which 

 greatly aids the incubation. She lays from four to 

 six eggs, of a yellowish dull white, and is said to 

 cover them up with the surrounding leaves, every 

 time she has occasion to stir abroad. 



This species of the Grebe is an inhabitant of 

 both Europe and America. In several specimens 

 furnished by the author's sporting friends, the dif- 

 ference was very trifling, except that the plumage 

 of some was more dashed with red than that of 

 others. 



