NOTES AND QUERIES. 425 



Nesting of the Great Crested Grebe in the North of Ireland.— 

 The Irish naturalist, Thompson, mentions that in his time the Great 

 Crested Grebe bred on the large artificial lake in Hillsborough Park- 

 I am happy to state that in this fine demesne, belonging to the Marquis of 

 Dovvnshire, this interesting bird still nests annually. During the spring of 

 1892 there were no less than five pairs on the lake, though at the beginning 

 of the summer two pairs had left. The remaining three pairs stayed and 

 bred, but did not begin nesting operations till the third week of June. On 

 June 21st I obtained a boat and rowed out into the lake. There is a small 

 artificial island in the centre, covered with willows and alders. In the 

 branches of a willow floating in the water, about five feet from the edge of 

 the island, was an unfinished Grebe's nest. At the edge of the lake, under 

 the fringe of a wood, we found another nest, containing two eggs. This 

 nest was similarly situated to the first, being a floating structure, about 

 eight feet from the bank, resting on a submerged branch of the willow trees 

 which fringe the Jake. There was about two feet of water under the nest, 

 and it was well concealed from above, as well as on the side next the open 

 lake, by the branches of the willows. To a person standing on the bank 

 behind, the nest and the eggs in it were quite conspicuous. The nest was 

 a large mass of rotten sticks, collected from the bottom of the water, and 

 matted together with decayed rubbish. In the middle was a very shallow 

 depression, lined with a few fragments of half-rotted weeds. On this the 

 eggs lay, one being quite clean, the other much stained. They were partly 

 covered with rotten sycamore leaves. A third egg was laid later on. Some 

 days afterwards I approached this nest from the land side. The bird was 

 sitting, and did not leave her eggs till I was close to the bank. She then 

 quietly slipped into the water, and swam away without diving. She remained 

 only a short distance outside the willows, while I waded out and examined 

 the nest. On this occasion I took the eggs, which of course were quite 

 uncovered. This was on June 25th. On July 5th another egg was laid 

 in the nest. I had many opportunities of studying the habits of these 

 interesting birds during the spring and summer. I first observed them on 

 March 30th. They were very gregarious, always keeping rather close 

 together, generally near the island in the centre of the lake. The pairs 

 frequently performed various antics of courtship, which were very amusing. 

 The male and female were almost always close together, sometimes floating 

 side by side, with their heads drawn in for a long time, and looking very 

 like ducks; sometimes chasing oue another through the water; often both 

 diving together. The following manoeuvre was very often observed:— 

 The male and female, who had become separated for a short time, would 

 begin to swim towards one another, with heads erected, their long 

 necks being stretched upwards, aud the crests and ruff very conspicuous, 

 all the time uttering a curious croaking sound, compared by Mr. Seebohm 



