208 
THE PIED-BILLED DOBCHICK. 
and winter, in the east and north-west in spring and summer, mostly on 
fresh waters of all descriptions, yet when these are covered with ice, on 
bays and estuaries, where it searches for shrimps and fry, although under 
other circumstances such haunts are not congenial to it. 'It is found in 
New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, but I did not meet with it in Labrador 
or Newfoundland. 
I had the good fortune, on the 28th of June, to stumble upon a nest of 
this bird near the banks of the Wabash river, above Vincennes. It was 
large for the bird, raised several inches above the muddy and reedy shores 
of a pond, only a few feet from the water, and composed of decayed weeds, 
rushes, and earth. On being discovered, the sitting bird slid over the mud, 
along a path that led directly to the water, in which it immediately dived, 
and I saw no more of it for about twenty minutes. The eggs, which were 
five, measured an inch and a quarter, by seven and a half-eighths, were 
smooth, rather rounded, and of a light greenish-white colour. On breaking 
one of them, I found it to contain a chick considerably advanced, which 
induced me to leave the rest untouched, and before I departed I saw the 
bird, which I believed to be the female, swimming low at a distance. I 
watched it for some time, but could not discover another, and walked away 
to allow it to resume its occupation. The nest was fixed among the stalks 
of strong reeds, but was not attached to any of them. In the month of 
August, while on the Cayuga lakes, I saw one of these birds with a brood 
of young about half grown, but could not obtain a single specimen, as they 
dived with extreme quickness, and eluded all pursuit. 
Few birds plunge with more rapidity than this species, which, during 
submersion, employs its wings, as I had an opportunity of observing while 
some were passing under a boat when I was in pursuit of them. On the 
water it is almost impossible to catch them, unless they have been injured 
in the wing, when they are unable to dive without difficulty. The curious 
habit which they have of sinking gradually backward in the water, at the 
sight of an enemy, is very pleasing to observe. Not a ripple do they leave 
on the spot where they have disappeared, and one unacquainted with them 
can hardly conceive that a bird could have escaped in so dexterous a manner. 
My friend Thomas MacCulloch gave me an account of one which, having 
been observed on a small tnill-dam, was pursued by the miller’s sons, who, 
after chasing it fully an hour, could not even drive it on shore. Their 
father, however, who was as anxious as themselves to see the curious crea- 
ture, drained the pond, when the little thing was seen crawling over the 
mud in a manner not unlike that of a turtle. It was now easily caught, as it 
was not able to rise on wing, the species, it seems, being incapable of spring- 
