184 



British Birds, with their Nests and Eggs 



unfortunately, it came up before I expected it to, and saw me moving. Of course 

 the bird disappeared at once, and it did not show itself until it was some two 

 hundred yards out to sea. 



Grebes (especially when they come off the nest) often indulge in an exhaus- 

 tive wash, dipping and shaking their heads beneath the surface of the water, 

 and splashing with their wings and feet in evident enjoyment. Washing 

 is not, however, confined to tbe breeding season. One morning in the early part 

 of November, soon after dawn, I saw a Grebe emerge from a bed of rushes and 

 proceed to take a succession of splashing dives by way of a morning tub. During 

 the course of the day Grebes usually spend some time in preening and dressing 

 their feathers, often for this purpose careening themselves over on one side, 

 the action of one foot, gently paddling, causing them to revolve slowly. It 

 is doubtless while thus engaged that the Grebes accumulate those masses and 

 balls of their own white feathers usually found in their stomachs, the reason for 

 the presence of which has not yet been satisfactorily demonstrated. 



When undisturbed the Crested Grebes may be observed floating placidly on 

 the water, their long necks folded back on their shoulders, and their bills, some- 

 times turned a little to one side, nestling among their feathers. At such times 

 the birds float comparatively high in the water; but when alarmed they sink 

 lower, while the long neck is stretched upwards to its utmost, and their heads are 

 turned from side to side with a watchful and vigilant air. Grebes may sometimes 

 be seen with their long necks stretched out flat upon the water, and their heads 

 partly submerged, probably searching for some kind of food. They can swim very 

 fast, and no more perfect paddle can be imagined than the Grebe's foot. With 

 the forward stroke the broadly margined toes, the foot and the tarsus, close upon 

 themselves, while the tarsus itself presents only a knife-edge to the water; with 

 the back stroke the tarsus strikes partly with the broad dimension, and the 

 spreading foot presents the utmost resistance to the water. 



The winter dress is assumed at a comparatively early date. On the 26th 

 September, a Grebe was far advanced in change, hardly a sign of the rufous 

 colour on the sides of the head remaining ; and by the 16th of October the full 

 winter dress had been assumed. 



Their breeding time varies very considerably from divers causes ; severe frost 

 late in the winter and in early spring may delay the old birds in commencing 

 nesting operations, and the early clutches of eggs are probably liable to be destroyed 

 by crows, as the young certainly are, later on, by pike. Late springs must be 

 especially detrimental to the Grebes, by checking the growth of the reeds and 

 rushes, and causing the nests to be more than ordinarily exposed. Indeed, the 



