3] TVol. ee 
erown, this young bird was fishing on its own account, and 
I could see nothing of either parent. 
“Four days after our first sight of this brood D. sawa pair 
with newly hatched young on the other water, at the edge 
of the Typha-bed and close to the spot where she had seen 
the bird go in on June 26th. We spent some time watching 
this pair at close quarters on the afternoon of July 6th. 
The three chicks were carried on the back of one parent 
and fed in that position by the other, which came at frequent 
intervals with a small fish held crosswise in its bill. Now 
and then on the approach of the old bird with food a chick 
would slide into the water from the back of the nursing 
bird, only to regain its cradle quickly by climbing up over 
its tail. Once the bird that was carrying the young shook 
them off its back and dived. "They swam immediately to 
the other bird, clambered up over its tail, and the roles of 
the old birds were reversed. A fortnight later the division 
of labour still obtained, but its mode had changed, for then 
one parent had sole charge of two and the other of one of 
the clamorous and apparently insatiable chicks, each party 
feeding independently of and at some distance from the 
other. On August 4th the young birds were diving and 
fishing to some extent on their own account, but most of the 
food was still caught by the old birds. By August the 11th 
the young, which were then about two-thirds the size of the 
old birds, were scattered about the reservoir and seemed to 
be quite independent of parentai control.. A week later I 
could find neither old nur young, and can only conclude 
that all the birds left the neighbourhood so soon as the 
young could fly, a proceeding in striking contrast with that 
of the Great Crested Grebes, which do not leave the 
reservoirs for the winter until the latter part of October. 
That two pairs nested and reared broods is beyond question. 
it may be that the third pair nested, but escaped notice—an 
easy matter if the total acreage of the reservoirs is taken 
into account ; but after the party broke up at the beginning 
of June little was seen of this pair or of the unattached 
bird. 
