20 
dabchick's jnest and eggs. 
rather longer : when only two or three, they are white and 
uncovered, but when more, they are carefully concealed,* 
principally with the flowers of the common reed ; and this 
is not to be done at a moment's notice, when you drive the 
bird from her nest ; there are no reeds near enough for 
* The fact of the dabchick covering its eggs has been confirmed by many- 
excellent observers since the preceding paragraph was published ; and several 
interesting particulars have been detailed in the ' Zoologist,' both as regards 
the covering and the colour of the eggs. " Their nests " says Mr. Parsons "are 
placed in the thick water-plants or reeds growing upon the sides of the marshy 
waters, and consist of a large quantity of material — flags, reeds, or any aquatic 
plants, sometimes of rushes broken into short pieces, and built upon a solid 
foundation from the bottom, to six inches or a foot above the surface, subject 
to variation from the rising or wasting of the water. Upon the top of this fa- 
bric are deposited from four to six eggs, perfectly white when first laid, but 
soon stained by being in contact with the moist plants, so that they may fre- 
quently be seen of a dark brown. When the complement of eggs is nearly com- 
pleted, they are carefully covered over, but the birds are not so particular at 
first, as I have often seen nests with one or two eggs left uncovered ; afterwards, 
and during the time of incubation, they are concealed by a larger covering, not, 
as Professor Rennie tells us, of dry hay, which is often a scarce commodity in 
the dabchicks' haunts, but with the water-plants or rushes growing hard by, and 
one plant, the water crowfoot, appears to be a favourite with them for this pur- 
pose." Mr. Parsons goes on to observe, that from the quantity of "this cover- 
ing, it is obvious that it is not hastily placed on when quitting the nest:" it 
must be a work of time and labour, and when once accomplished " the cover- 
ing is allowed to remain, the bird performing her duties of incubation upon the 
top of it," a situation Mr. Parsons has sometimes surprised her in, when she 
has suddenly plunged into the water, leaving " both the eggs and covering; quite 
warm." The reader is referred to this account at page 365 of the 'Zoologist,' 
to others by the Rev. Mr. Atkinson, at pages 499 and 767, and to a fourth by 
the Rev. Mr. Bury, at page 863. These admirable papers are of the highest 
possible interest, and together contain an excellent history of this amusing bird. 
From the mass of evidence on the subject, it may be gathered that the eggs of 
the dabchick are rarely covered until three at least have been deposited : that 
the total number is five or six : that they are always in contact with the water : 
that during incubation they are always covered, the parent bird sitting on the 
covering : and finally, that this incubation among wet and decaying weeds is a 
highly probable cause for that strange discolouring for which the dabchick's 
eggs have always been remarkable. 
