DABCHICKS. 67 



who reports as follows * : — " I have carefully 

 examined the remains of the bird's food, but 

 cannot find any signs of fish ova having 

 formed part of his diet. The matters you 

 have sent are entirely insect, and consist of 

 legs, wing cases, and a caddis-worm case." 



There are now, I should mention, two 

 living dabchicks in the aquarium house at 

 the Zoological Gardens ; and, though such a 

 common bird, Mr. Bartlett has hitherto had 

 great difficulty in procuring living specimens. 

 I went into the water and took out of a net 

 with my own hands the female, when we were 

 catching trout to take the ova for hatching 

 purposes. The little, creature went with a 

 terrible bang into the .net, swimming under 

 water, and we thought we had got a very 



* "The Field," March, 1862. 



F 2 



