128 
BIRD-LIFE. 
several slight advantages, till at last it was able to take 
refuge in the thickest part of the tree. My father relates 
a wonderful anecdote showing the intelligence of the Great 
Crested Grebe : “ In July, 1818,1 was making a tour with 
my two friends, the ‘ Forster ’ Bonde and Dr. Schilling, 
to the Friessnilzer Lake. A splendid specimen of a 
male Crested Grebe struck our attention. Bonde and I 
got into a punt which lay moored by the side of the lake, 
and Schilling posted himself on the shore, at a place 
where the water was very shallow; we were obliged to do 
this, for it was in the days of flint guns, and by getting 
the bird in fleet water his possible escape by diving was 
rendered more difficult. By careful rowing we succeeded 
in driving the Grebe into the shallow water. The bird 
now appeared to be so thoroughly in our power that 
I already exclaimed, 4 Now we have got you ! ’ Our boat 
had approached him so close that escape, whether by 
diving or flying, seemed impossible—he must fall either 
to us in the punt or to Schilling on the shore; yet, in spite 
of all our calculations, he found means to escape, which 
we naturalists had never dreamt of: he allowed himself 
to drift close to the lower shore of the lake, where a large 
herd of cattle were grazing; he then rose, but in such a 
manner as to fly straight towards the herd, so that we 
could not fire without hitting a cow, and these were 
feeding so close together that there was no space left 
between them. As long as the cattle served as cover the 
bird continued his flight close to them and low down, and 
thus in a short space was out of shot. No sooner, how¬ 
ever, had he reached the end of the herd than rising 
high in the air he made for the upper part of the sheet 
of water, where he disappeared among the reeds and 
rushes, which grew there in abundance. ‘ Bravo i 5 cried I, 
