72 THE NIDOLOGIST 
prising regularity and not a little ability on the 
part of thearchitects. The rafts all consisted of 
a number of stems of the long marsh grass, laid 
in the form of a triangle, with the ends crossed 
to keep them from floating apart. A second 
triangle was laid across the first so as to make a 
six, or often a five, pointed star, between the 
points of which several stems of grass were left 
growing, acting as a mooring, and so prevent- 
ing the nest from floating away. In the center 
an open space was left, in and over which was 
built the nest itself, which was a mass of mud 
and moss brought up from the bottom (appar- 
ently). A hollow in the center which contained 
the eggs usually also contained half an inch of 
water, as the nests were almost submerged. 
Out in the open water, half a mile from the 
nests, swam the Grebe colony. As we turned 
toward camp, and in the middle of the pond, 
several hundred feet from the boat was a wee 
mite of a Grebe, probably but a few hours old, 
cut off from the shelter of the grass by our boat 
and deserted by all of its kindred. 
The poor little fellow was, for once in its 
short career, in trouble, and raising up its voice 
in an appeal for help it swam away toward the 
opposite shore. 
Several times I had tried to secure specimens 
of downy Grebes, but so far they had allescaped, 
but here was a chance, possibly, to capture one. 
Before making any hostile demonstrations, 
however, an idea occurred to me which I im- 
mediately put into effect. The chick had again 
turned and was regarding the boat in timid won- 
der. Behind us the flock of old birds were pip- 
Ing their high-pitched notes, and after one or 
two attempts I produced a fair imitation. At 
first the effect was to start the chick away from 
us, but after one or two stops it turned and 
came toward us, stopping at intervals, as if in 
doubt, and at times taxing my powers to the 
uttermost to restore confidence. At about two 
hundred feet distant it stopped, and I thought 
it would not venture nearer; all of my most 
endearing Grebe phrases were for a time in: 
vain, but they at last prevailed, and with an 
answering peep it dashed toward the boat and 
did not stop until it had climbed into my hand, 
which I held down to the water toward it. 
Nestling down in my palm as contentedly as 
if it considered that naturalists were the natural 
guardians of small Grebes, it looked up at me 
with its bright little eyes, peeped in a question- 
ing way, and then, perhaps seeing that I failed 
to comprehend, pecked ata fly on my finger. 
The suggestion was a good one, and I fell to 
catching flies, which were eagerly taken by the 
downy bunch of awkwardness until half a dozen 
had been eaten—all in the most matter-of-fact 
way imaginable. 
Make a specimen of a downy Grebe? I 
would have instantly resented any intimation 
that such idea had ever been entertained, and 
at last I reluctantly returned the willing captive 
to the water, expecting to see it swim away or, 
at most, watch us with indifference as we de- 
parted ; but to my surprise it declined to be 
abandoned, and followed along by the side of 
the boat, “peeping” and trying to climb up 
the sides, until it was actually necessary to use 
more than the ordinary speed in order to leave 
our waif behind. 
The last we saw of our baby Grebe it was. 
floating, away behind, a mere speck on the 
water, from which came doleful peeps of de- 
spair at being thus cruelly abandoned. 
a 
Whip-poor-will’s Love Note. 
AJOR CHARLES E. BENDIRE writes 
us under date, February 5, 1896: 
“T was much interested in Mr, J. C. 
Galloway’s article on Whip-poor-wills. I have 
no doubt whatever that the peculiar notes he 
mentions therein are uttered only during the 
mating season, and are the love notes of one of 
the pair. I describe such a performance wit- 
nessed by me (in my second volume of Zzfe His- 
tories, on page 149) while within a few feet of 
the performers. I have as yet been unable to 
learn how soon this volume will be out, but it 
has already been in type since July 1, 1895, 
and is still lying in the Government Printing 
Office.” 
a 
Unusual Nesting of American 
Merganser. 
AY 26, 1895, I collected a set of ten 
American Merganser’s eggs from a hole 
in the rocks about one hundred feet 
above the Umpqua River. Thenest was about 
fifteen feet from the top of anearly perpendicu- 
lar cliff about fifty feet in height, and was found 
by watching the bird. In going to the nest 
the bird would fly up and down the river in an 
oval course several times, and finally, coming 
close to the water as if to light, would rise to: 
the nest. 
The entrance to the hole was six inches by 
twelve, and the inside dimensions four feet 
long, two feet deep, and eighteen inches high. 
The nest was about one foot in diameter, of 
down mixed with moss, one half inch thick in 
the center and thicker around the edges. 
The eggs were incubated about one half. 
On the same day four young Mergansers were 
seen swimming in the river. There are hollow 
trees which could be, and sometimes are, used 
