LITTLE GREBE. 
211 
in the nest, and then paddled gently off. An hour afterwards 
I found it very busy collecting weed to add to the nest ; it 
made several journeys for the purpose, diving for the weed 
it used. After a time it brought some food, but finding the 
young ones would not take it, though it tried all round the nest, 
it ate it itself. On the next day both birds were hard at work 
adding to their nest; a strong breeze was blowing, and the waves 
ivould in a very short time have washed it away if it had not 
constantly been added to. On one occasion that the eggs 
were uncovered, I ran to the nest as fast as I could, but 
one of the birds came back and covered the eggs in a moment. 
Two eggs were still unhatched and one young bird was dead 
in the nest. This brood was evidently a failure ; for eight 
days afterwards, on the 13th of June, I found that a third 
nest had been built near an island about fifteen yards from the 
bank, and one of the birds was sitting upon it. Only on one 
other occasion have I ever seen the eggs left uncovered, which 
makes me think that the bird only covers her eggs when she 
is driven from the nest. I once disturbed a Dabchick and her 
young from the nest. They all dived away and disappeared in 
different directions, and when the young birds came up the 
parent swam alongside of them, and they scrambled under 
her wings, which she held up for the purpose. She then 
dived away, carrying with her the young birds, which might 
have been two or three days old.” 
I can quite endorse Mr. Seebohm’s opinion of the worth ol 
such observations as the above, especially in the case of such 
a bird as the Little Grebe, whose habits are most difficult to 
observe closely. I spent much time in studying the habits 
of the present species in my younger days. The birds were 
common in Hampshire at Avington, where my old friend. 
Sir Edward Shelley, used to invite me to visit him every spring. 
Not only were these Grebes abundant on the Itchen and its 
adjacent water-meadows, but several pairs bred on the lakes 
close to the house. They were always visible towards evening, 
and as the sun set over the waters, their curious trilling chatter 
was sure to be heard as they swam about near the mill-pool, or 
disported themselves over the big lake. In May, when the 
Ducks were nesting, and the surface of the water became 
covered with the growing reeds, the latter were the favourite 
p 2 
