516 JOURNAL, BOMBAY NATURAL HISTORY SOCIETY, Vol. XVII, 



reeds. The male bird appeared, however, to recognise the place and dived 

 bringing up a bunch of weed which he offered to the other bird. The two 

 played with it for a little while, then left it. What made the grebe bring up 

 this weed ? For they do not feed on it ; it is the stuff their nests are made of. 

 Could he have mistaken the time of year and thought the nest ought to 

 have been commenced ? No, it was only perhaps a passing whim, or he 

 would not have finally left the weed. I am certain this young bird was not the 

 female of last year, and probably this action, on the part of the male, of lifting 

 the weed was to shew the female how and where to build the nest. 



The cries of these two grebes sounded like ' erak erak erak erak ka ka ' and 

 at other times like 'ak ah ak ah ' and ' er erak er erak " mingled with a buzzing 

 sound. On February 28th I again visited the place and saw the grebes meet, 

 shake their heads, and indulge in the usual " spar." When these birds are at rest 

 the head is drawn back between the shoulders, with the bill either straight in 

 front or else tucked under a wing, and usually one leg sticking out of the water. 

 They are constantly preening their feathers, and their breasts shine in the sun 

 as silver, especially that of the young bird, which is a brighter colour than the 

 older one, and has a purer white breast. The time these birds remained under 

 water after a dive, I noted, was from 3 to 5 minutes. When diving they 

 either roll sideways under and disappear without a ripple, or in head first. 

 On March the 5th I saw the female grebe was much more advanced about the 

 head than she was a week ago, and showed a decidedly more bushy crest. It 

 is remarkable how birds of the genus Podicipidw come into breeding plumage 

 so early. They are frequently found thus long before winter is over, and a 

 friend of mine tells me he had seen and shot red-throated divers (Colyrnbus 

 septentrionalis) (nearly allied to the grebe family) in midwinter in full sum- 

 mer dress. 



GORDON DALGLIESH. 



GODALMING, SuEBEY, 



2nd February 1906. 



No. II.— PACKS OF WOLVES IN PERSIA. 



While after Urial in August I came on a pack of 11 wolves, of which I 

 managed to shoot 3. Is not this very unusual at this time of year ? The 

 Persians here say they have never heard of a pack of so many wolves in the 

 hot weather. There were only two pups in the pack. 



J. W. WATSON, Capt., i.m.s. 

 Tuebat-i-Hyderi, Peesia, 

 4th October 19U5. 



[Presumably the wolves referred to belonged to the European species, Cams 

 lupus, which extends down to Baluchistan and Western Sind. The occurrence 

 of so large a pack is certainly unusual ; and Dr. Blanford remarks that, " as a 

 rule, they occur solitary or in pairs, but at times, and especially in the winter, 



