330 MR. J. S. HUXLEY ON THE 
The place of observation was a single large sheet of water. 
In 1900 he watched, fairly continuously, from April 27th to 
May 25th, except for a break of nine days (May 8th to 17th). 
At first there was but a single pair of Grebes. A nest was built, 
probably shortly before May 3rd. On May 3rd the birds paired 
(or attempted to pair) on the nest. A single egg was laid by 
May 38rd, a second before May 8th; then came a gap, and on 
the 17th the nest was destroyed bya boy. There was nowa third 
bird, an odd male, on the lake. The hen ‘‘flirted” with him, but 
the “right” cock drove him away: and, although he stayed till 
the 22nd, he apparently remained alone and disconsolate all the 
time. In a single day (May 20th) the pair built a good portion 
of a second nest. This they continued to build during the 21st, 
the cock meanwhile building (by himself) a rudimentary nest or 
platform close to the bank. On the 22nd they were building 
another (third) nest in the reeds, the cock again building a 
(second) platform by the bank. On the 23rd there was an 
unsuccessful, and later a successful, attempt at pairing on the 
nest. On the 28th the nest seemed abandoned ; however, when 
Selous returned, towards the end of July, there were two nearly 
full-grown young. 
In 1901 he watched for a good part of April, then nearly 
continuously from April 22nd to May 14th, and then off and 
on till nearly the end of May. There was again a single pair 
on the water, and he believes these to have been the same birds 
as were there the year before. Before he started watching 
they had made a kind of nest, but a very poor one—a mere 
sodden heap of weeds scarcely showing above the surface and 
not at first sight to be easily distinguished from the growing 
weeds about it. ‘This appears to have been only a pairing- 
platform. On the 25th they paired on this platform. On 
May 2nd they executed a regular weed-trick and Penguin-dance, 
and, some time afterwards, paired again on the platform. As 
time went on they grew less and less interesting, and it finally 
grew clear that they were not going to lay. On June 12th, 
when Selous visited the place after a fortnight’s absence, there 
was no sign of the birds—they had gone for good. 
That is the bald diary ; now for the birds’ behaviour. Under 
different headings I will summarize the actions of the ‘1900 
pair,” and the ‘1901 pair.” (In passing, be it remarked that 
Selous has no proof that the birds he saw in 1901 were really 
the same as those of 1900. He says:—“‘ As they were the one 
and only pair on the same sheet of water, and as the nest was 
in approximately the same place, I assume and feel personally 
quite certain that they were.” However, there are certain 
definite differences in behaviour in 1900 and 1901, which make 
it at least possible that they were not the same pair.) 
Nest-building. 
(2) 1900.—Both birds may help in building the nest, usually 
diving to fetch weeds from the bottom, but sometimes gathering 
