DIVERS AND GREBES 295 



those we shall notice are found on the tide, as a 

 rule not far from shore, but there are exceptions 

 even to this. Birds of the year, and immature 

 birds, are more frequently met with than adults ; 

 this is the case, as a rule, with all diving fowl. As 

 a diver, this bird is in the front rank ; you will see 

 him gliding under and coming up again in the most 

 quiet manner. 



Before us is a long, shallow lagoon, deeper far in 

 mud than water, although in the centre the water 

 may be from five to six feet in depth in some parts. 

 One hundred yards it may be at its widest, and 

 there is a patch of reeds across it. The tide slowly 

 forces its way to this, just enough to make the dead 

 drainings from the uplands brackish ; for only a 

 small run from a tall dyke enters this long, creeping 

 bit of water, that runs for five miles right through 

 some of the marshes. The reeds are very thick 

 here, and a rare height. There is not much to be 

 seen in or on such bits, as a rule, for the show is 

 inside in the reed channels. A pair, if not a couple 

 of pairs, Duckers by name and duckers by nature, 

 frequent this bit, but it is difficult to get a look at 

 them. We do see one, but only for a few seconds, 

 as he rises with a fish a little too large for him ; his 

 tufts and ruff are bluffed out in the efforts to swallow 

 it, making him look as one just a little bit wild about 

 the head. 



