At Home with a Hell -Diver 



251 



the nest, I pulled my boat into some bushes about fifty feet away, from which 

 an unobstructed view could be obtained. It was evident that the instinct to 

 protect the nest had been greatly augumented by the hatching of the first egg, 

 but whether this would extend to the instinct to incubate was yet to be learned. 

 The Grebe soon came back to the vicinity, but was evidently alarmed. Most 

 of the time it swam back and forth behind the nest, flashing its white flank 

 feathers; occasionally it peered into the nest, but, even after hours of waiting, 

 when its nervousness had entirely disappeared, it showed no disposition to 

 ascend the nest. It certainly appeared as though incubation were unnecessary 

 with this bird. After about three hours, when hope had almost vanished, 

 something seemed to arouse its interest, and suddenly, without the slightest 



THE OLD BIRD SWAM UP TO MEET 



hesitation, it sprang upon the nest and began prodding into it with its bill. 

 At first I was at a loss to understand such strange actions, but, upon a closer 

 view, saw that another egg had hatched, and the old bird had been assisting 

 the young from the shell. A white substance which I had seen in the bill of 

 the Grebe as she was departing must have been a fragment of eggshell, as 



