iisuaHy is a quantity of rushes laid over them, that pre^ 
Vents the eggs from being exposed, should any sudden ac- 
cident call the bird off. " They are very frequently de- 
voured while diving in pursuit of small fish, by pike and 
trout the eggs also afford a meal to the water-rat. 
The principal food of this bird is small fish, aquatic in- 
sects, and wotms ; in the winter it will live on the roots of 
such plants as grow by the margins of streams ; during the 
breeding season, the male bird may frequently be heard to 
titter a shrill chatter, the usual note at other seasons is a 
whistle quickly repeated. In the autumn they quit their in- 
land retreats, and but few, and those late-hatched birds^ 
are to be met with from the middle of August to the end of 
September, after which they return to their usual haunts ; 
they are said at that season to frequent the sea-shores, and 
to feed on shrimps. 
It is supposed to be long lived, as one pair have been 
known to resort to the same spot for more than twenty 
years, where they regularly breed ; they seem not to be 
very easily made to quit their haunts, as when their nests 
haVe been destroyed, they have returned time after time to 
rebuild them ; they nestle almost always on the same spot 
for many years in succession. 
