284 THE ZOOLOGIST. 



could never discover, unless it was to feed on something. I do 

 not think the Dabchick is capable of walking or resting on its 

 feet. The legs are not able to support the weight of the bird, 

 and are placed so very far back as to render walking an impossi- 

 bility. Anyone who has ever handled a living Dabchick, or one 

 just shot, will understand what I mean. A captive Dabchick I 

 had, which was pinioned and kept on a large tank, rested with 

 both tarsi on the ground, the legs being very wide apart. It 

 used its wings frequently when swimming under water, guiding 

 its way as easily as a bird in the air. The Dabchick always 

 appears larger on the water than it really is, owing to its habit 

 of raising its wings in exactly the same way that a Swan does. 

 My own experience goes that the females are slightly darker (in 

 summer plumage) than the males. Their bills, too, are shorter. 

 But of course this must not be accepted as a general rule. In 

 colour the iris varies very much, being brown, yellow, and, in 

 one specimen I saw, blood-red. 



These birds are most pugnacious, and I have at times seen 

 them drive Coots right off the water. Their curious cry, uttered 

 chiefly in the nesting season, sounds like "chrr, rr, rr, wee, wee," 

 but it is hard to put it into words, but once heard can never be 

 mistaken for that of any other bird. 



