Horned Grebe 
As I was crossing Holden* s Meadow early this after¬ 
noon I came upon a Horned Grebe, the first that I have 
ever found in Concord River. It had discovered me fend was 
swimming rapidly out into the rough water of the tidal 
current but it did not seem to be very much alarmed and 
after I had worked the canoe close in shore it began 
diving for food, springing nearly clear of the water like 
a Merganser and remaining beneath the surface for periods 
varying from thirty to forty-two seconds. It remained 
ixi nearly the same place, an eddy very near shore but 
really in the river itself off the south end of Davis’s 
Hill. I watched it for fifteen or twenty minutes through 
my glass. It was in the very fullest and richest nuptial 
plumage. Its head looked very large and fluffy -- as 
large as a. drab Whistler’s — and the chestnut patch 
showed distinctly. The neck was slender and gracefully 
held. 
When I started towards it again it swam out into 
the choppy sea. and directly down stream, keeping in the 
swiftest part of the current and making a succession of 
remarkably long dives. Although I paddled hard, I did 
not succeed in overtaking it until it turned into the 
meadow and there I did not get nearer at any time than 
about 100 yards, for it doubled on me continually and went 
almost as far under water at each dive as a Loon. 
