The Submerged Tenth 



of the lake, shoulder deep. Then, after walking 

 a mile along the shore of the lake, clad in a suit ot 

 underwear tor protection against an abounding 

 poisonous water-plant, I forced my way in through 

 the thicket of canes. About a hundred yards from 

 the shore I entered the suburbs of the city in- 

 habited by the Western Grebe — a great loon-like 



ONE OF THE MANY NESTS OF THE WESTERN GREBE 



creature, the largest species of the order — and the 

 Eared Grebe. In the shadow of the tall canes I 

 seemed to be in some sort of a submerged tropical 

 forest. The leaves of the canes were thicker 

 towards the top, while lower down the stems were 

 bare, like miniature palm-trunks, through which 

 one could see only for a few feet. In this shady 

 retreat, floating between the stems, were the nests of 

 the Grebes, on the average about two yards apart. 



17 



