10 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



way down the water (gaining a height of twenty or thirty feet) 

 without, as far as I know, being disturbed in any way. I have 

 before this seen them take long flights at this season, and a 

 little later in the year. 



The Crested Grebe flies very freely in the autumn. One day 

 early in November, 1898, when I was at this pool, there were 

 some Snipe in the big reed-bed, and a lot of shots were fired at 

 them by two men who had the shooting rights. This alarmed 

 all the birds, including the Grebes (of which I counted fifteen 

 young and old), and they remained very nervous all the rest of 

 the day, long after the shooters had departed. I frequently saw 

 one or other of them rise and fly for some distance over the 

 water, rising to a height of about twenty feet in some cases. 

 They are good fliers and fly fast. Wings narrow and curved 

 downwards. The head and neck is outstretched and depressed, 

 and the legs and that end of the body are also drooped ; so the 

 body at the saddle is the highest part of them. This gives them 

 a curious appearance on the wing. The true Divers have some- 

 thing the same shape when in the air. The adult Grebes on that 

 November day looked almost black-and-white birds (the imma- 

 ture birds were duller and more grey), showing a great deal of 

 white on the wings — more white than dark except near the tip. 

 When they are going to pitch down on the water they drop their 

 hind parts and straddle out their legs. I have known Crested 

 Grebes fly in summer, but very rarely. 



