176 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



the nest, as though to take it to the platform ; then hesitates, 

 turns, and places it on the nest. The next bunch of weed 

 he passes to the female, who takes it from him and deposits 

 it on the nest, whilst he swims a little farther, and dives for 

 more. 



7.47. — Male taking a cargo to platform. He takes four in 

 succession, then meets female at nest, and passes her a load as 

 before, which, however, she allows to drop. One of the 

 birds now jumps on to the nest, and sits there a moment or 

 so ; then off again. I think it was the female, but am not quite 

 certain. 



7.55. — The male is now again taking loads to his platform, 

 and also to the nest; but he has taken some four to the former, 

 only one to the latter. He then takes two more to the platform. 

 I now again see the third Grebe in the distance, but he keeps 

 aloof, and plays no part in the drama. 



The morning's work seems now (at 8.10) to be finished, and I 

 can only see one of the two birds a long way from the nest. I 

 leave at 8.15. 



This occasional hesitation of the male between the nest and 

 his platform, as though he were in doubt to which to take his 

 load of weed to, is a thing to be noted, for it may throw a light 

 on the possible origin of the habit of making such a platform — 

 that is, supposing such a habit to exist ; but as to this, other 

 questions now arise. Why should the birds, having almost com- 

 pleted one nest, have commenced making another ? Let us sup- 

 pose that, owing to restlessness at the destruction of the first 

 nest, or, again, to what we may call a wandering of the instinct 

 — which last a male bird might be more subject to in nest- 

 building than the female on account of the habit having been 

 more lately acquired by the progenitors of the former than of 

 the latter, and being therefore less fixed — let us suppose that 

 from either of these causes, or from some other cause, the male 

 bird had wandered, and begun to deposit his loads in another 

 place ; then, the female, seeing him do so, might have followed 

 his example, in which case what had seemed a platform made for 

 a special purpose would have become another nest. On the 

 other hand, let us suppose that the female is not to be led away 

 by the unsteadiness of the male, and that she by persevering 



