The Pied-billed Grebe 



with a hemispherical finish brought to an elevation of from two to six 

 inches above water. If in shallow water, the mound is comparatively 

 solid, and mud is largely used. If in deep water, mud may be almost 



Taken in Santa Barbara 



Photo by the Author 



BE 'UMBLE, URIAH, BE 'UMBLE 



eliminated, and the mass, thus rendered light enough to float, gives with 

 the waves as it swings upon concealed moorings of aquatic plants. 



Here in a slight depression of the top, seven or eight eggs are deposited 

 at the rate of one a day; and incubation requires three weeks or a little 

 over. The parents brood the eggs at night and in chilly weather, but on 

 bright days the eggs are carefully covered with mud and close-set mosses, 

 spirogyra and the like, and the whole smoothed over to the appearance 

 of an emerging mud-bank. The wet blanket, so painstakingly provided, 

 serves the triple purpose of screening the eggs from hostile observation, 

 of protecting them from the too violent rays of the sun, and of equalizing 

 the heat so received. Indeed, it is altogether possible that the heat 

 generated by the decay of the vegetation itself plays an important part 

 in incubation. 



That one does not see the mother is no sign that she is not anxious; 



20 ip 



