The Submercjed T];nth 



iiniillv -accomplished it, pulled the precious instru- 

 ment on h(vard, ct)\'ered it \\'ith the rubber cloth, 

 and let the rain beat down. 



Atter the shower liad passed, I proceeded to 

 arrange the camera again. Learning wisdom bv 

 experience, I pushed the boat across to the opposite 

 side ot the area of grass where the nests were — a 

 distance ot about the length of my thread — planted 

 •a pole hrmlv in the muddy bottom, tied the thread 

 to it, and then poled back to the camera with the 

 other end ot the thread, which I tastened to the 

 shutter. In this way there was less danger ot pull- 

 ing the thread prematurely, or ot getting it en- 

 tangled in the grass. Then I rowed around to the 

 pole by \\'av ot the open water, tied the boat to the 

 pole, and lav down on the bottom, thread in hand, 

 to await developments. 



Atter quite a while the Grebes began to su'im 

 back in small parties, and promenade up and down 

 " Broadwav." Two ot them approached their nests, 

 and climbed up awkwardly upon them. Their 

 purpose was to cover their eggs more perfectly than 

 in their haste they had done when the boat was 

 approaching. As soon as this had been accom- 

 plished, they slid oft' into the water and rejoined 

 their companions. Unfortunately they were not 

 quite in the range of the camera, so I lost a splendid 

 chance for an interesting picture. I thought that 

 in the course of things they would all go back, but 

 time passed, and not another one did so. Finally I 

 rowed over there and uncovered some ot the eggs, 

 hoping that this would induce the owners to come 

 and cover them. 



13 



