280 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



material was kept in readiness close to, or npon the 

 sides of, the nest for this purpose. I find on 

 reference to my Journal that on this occasion, the 

 first fortnight of May 1872, some of the Grebes' 

 eggs were fresh, most of them partially incubated, 

 and a few within a day or two of hatching ; the 

 latter were of a rich cinnamon or chocolate colour, 

 and we found specimens varying from that hue 

 through all the gradations of light rust-colour, buff, 

 and pale yellow, to their normal colour of greenish 

 white. Almost all the eggs that we found in the 

 nests were more or less wet and some of them 

 actually lying in water ; the usual complement of eggs 

 was four, but in some nests "were five, and in one 

 instance seven. Both parents take part in incubation. 

 In the winter months this Grebe is common 

 throughout the Mediterranean, but I have never seen 

 it anywhere in such large numbers as on the Lake of 

 Geneva ; I passed a winter at Lausanne in my boy- 

 hood, and the chase of these Grebes was virtually 

 the only sport that the locality afforded. It was no 

 uncommon event to see from forty to sixty or more 

 of these birds together far out on the Lake ; on 

 being approached they would disperse, and on being 

 pressed, the great majority, sometimes all of them, 

 would take wing, but, as a rule, one or two would 

 dive ; selecting one of these for pursuit, our rowers 

 pulled as hard as they could for the spot where it 

 had disappeared, slackening their speed at about 

 the twenty-eighth stroke with a sharp look-out on 

 all sides; the Grebe generally appeared before the 

 thirty-third stroke, but usually far out of shot ; after 

 two or three of these long dives the bird never took 

 wing, and its capture was merely a matter of time 



