THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE 21 



Scotland, and has only been recorded hitherto as 

 nesting in two Scottish lakes the Lake of Men- 

 teith and, if I mistake not, somewhere in Fife. 

 How this solitary individual found its way, as if in 

 answer to my wishes, to the White Loch, it would 

 be difficult to say, for it is a bird very reluctant to 

 take flight. It does, however, fly strongly when 

 once on the wing, and migrates far and wide. 



Well, this lonely bird remained until the great 

 frost locked up the lake for nearly two months (not- 

 withstanding that Camden in his Britannia affirms 

 that the White Lake of Myrtoun never freezeth, no, 

 not in the hardest winters), when it disappeared. It 

 returned again in spring and remained, still solitary, 

 throughout the summer of 1895 and the succeeding 

 winter. But the best remains to tell. By hook or 

 by crook, in the spring of 1896, he (or she, for it is 

 not easy to distinguish the sex of these grebes) 

 obtained a mate, nested, and produced three young. 

 It was a pretty sight through the glass in August to 

 watch one of the parent birds fishing, while the 

 young ones played around. From time to time the 

 old bird brought up a little perch ; then there was 

 a race between the young ones to secure it. Their 

 movements were so quick, that I failed to detect 



