CHAP. XVIII.] NIGHTJAR—QUAIL—GREBE. 147 
dead. Often, when I have been fishing late in the evening, has 
the nightjar flitted round, or pitched on a rock or bank close to 
me, as if inclined to take an interest in what I was at—confident, 
too, of not being molested. Its retreat in the daytime is usually 
in some lonely wild place. Though feeding wholly at night, I 
do not think that it is annoyed by sunshine, as it frequently basks 
in an open spot, appearing to derive enjoyment from the light 
and glare which are shining full upon it; unlike the owl, whose 
perch in the daytime is in some dark and shady corner, where 
’ the rays of the sun never penetrate. 
The quail is sometimes killed here, but very rarely. I once 
shot a couple on the Ross-shire side of the Moray firth, but 
never happened to meet with one on this side, though I have 
heard of their being killed, and also of their having been seen in 
the spring time, as if they came occasionally to breed. 
Another singular bird visits this country regularly in the 
spring, the lesser grebe (in England commonly called the dab- 
chick). It is difficult to understand how this bird makes out its 
journey from the region, wherever it may be, where they pass 
the winter. No bird is less adapted for a long flight, yet they 
suddenly appear in some rushy loch. Generally a pair take pos- 
session of some small pool, where they build their singular nest 
and rear their young, till the returning autumn warns them that 
it is time to return to some country less liable than this to have 
its pools and lochs frozen. In a small rushy pond in Inverness- 
shire I had frequent opportunities of observing their domestic 
economy, and the manner in which they build their nest and rear 
their young. Though there was no stream connecting this pool 
with any other larger piece of water, a pair, and only a pair of 
these little grebes came to it every spring. After two or three 
days spent in recruiting their strength and making love to each 
other, the little birds set about making their nest in a tuft of 
rushes, at a shallow part of the water, a few yards from: the 
shore. They first collected a considerable quantity of dead 
rushes, which they found in plenty floating about the edges of 
the water. Both male and female were busily employed in 
building, swimming to and fro with the greatest activity. After 
laying a good foundation of this material, they commenced diving 
for the weeds which grew at the bottom of the water, bringing 
La 
