HABITS OF THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 343 



8,40. — The two again at the weeds ; the female leaps up, 

 makes the pose, and lies along just as the male has, on previous 

 occasions, done. The male now swims ardently up, but becomes, 

 as it were, nervous, and remains on the water. After a little the 

 female comes off, and, very shortly afterwards, the other — the 

 male — leaps on to the raft, poses and lies along, just as he 

 has done before, and just as the female has done a moment 

 ago. But, as is so frequently the case, the matter proceeds no 

 further. 



May 1st. — Got to the water at about 7.30 a.m., and could see 

 no Grebes there. Walking along the shore to the weeds, I found 

 the nest — for I now think it is one — apparently no further ad- 

 vanced than when I last saw it. It is hardly raised above the 

 water, and quite unnoticeable through the glasses, or when not 

 looked directly down upon from quite near. Walking back, 

 I saw both the birds in a part of the water they do not so often 

 visit, and for some time, now, they fished, and I saw them catch 

 and eat several fish. Then they fronted each other in the water, 

 and, erecting their long necks, tdted a little with the bills in their 

 usual manner, after which they seemed going to the nest, but the 

 intention did not hold. There was now another long interval, 

 and then just the same again, and afterwards I came away without 

 anything further having taken place. 



May 2nd. — At 7 a.m. I find the Grebes as before, swimming 

 lazily about, that is to say, and catching and eating a fish now 

 and again, with an easy grace. Nothing of a nuptial character 

 takes place till after 8, when something interesting, and which I 

 have not before seen, does. The two are on the opposite side of 

 the water to the nest, and, fronting each other, tdter first with their 

 beaks. Then the female dives, and comes up with a small piece 

 of weed, which she, I think, lets drop. Immediately afterwards 

 — but whether before or after she comes up I cannot quite say — 

 the male dives too — excitedly, I think — and, coming up with a 

 larger piece of weed, the two again front each other, and all at 

 once both of them leap entirely upright in the water, standing, it 

 would seem, on their feet, either upon the water itself or on the 

 mud or weeds just below its surface. This latter I think it must 

 be, since they are now right on shore, and their movements seem 

 to imply a firm basis of support. Still, they have dived, and 



