266 BIRDS OF ILLINOIS. 



wJttere it rested on the bottom of the pond, the water being 

 about eight mches deep. Tlie part above the water was cir- 

 cular, twelve inches in breadth, the central depression being 

 rather shallow, and an inch in depth and five or six in breadth. 

 There was no Hning, and the whole presented an appearance of 

 soMdity resembling masonry. The upper part of the rim was 

 only about two and one half inches above the surface" of the 

 pon«l, and eould not possibly have floated had the water risen 

 to any height. When about three weeks old the young dive for 

 their own food, though the mother feeds them long afterward. 

 The young have been, caught as late as September 15, and it 

 is probable that this bird has two or three broods in a" sea- 

 son. * « « ♦ 



"These birds are usually perfectly fearless, swimming quite near 

 to the spectator, and trusting to their power of diving ta escape 

 from danger. They become .suspicious^ however, after having 

 been shot at. They can swim to a long distance under water, 

 merely raising the bill above the surface occasionally, and they 

 are somewhat nocturnal in habit. In the spring they make a 

 loud and sonorous braying noise. They feed on small fish and 

 insects, and prefer to hunt for them in places covered with dense 

 aquatic vegetation, being chiefly fresh-water birds, though seek- 

 ing the bays in the winter. This bird has the singular habit, 

 in common with all the other Grebes, of sinking down gradnally 

 and backwards into the water until it entirely disappears, not 

 leaving a ripple on the surface. This it does in order to escape, 

 when not compelled to liive quickly." ( Wat&r Bi/rdi of North 

 America, Vol. 11., pp. 442, 443.) 



