880 
BIRD-LIFE. 
be found. Tlie Grebe only plucks these feathers from the 
lower portion of the body; and this practice may be 
regarded as a kind of toying, when the pair pluck 
feathers from each other, the only occasion in which the 
feathers do not literally belong to the bird itself. Inas¬ 
much as this operation is continually taking place, the 
feathers are constantly being renewed all the year round; 
thus the skin of the breast is never free from young 
feathers of every age. It has been supposed that the 
feathers used for digestive purposes were those of small 
birds; and our friend the Grebe has consequently been 
regarded with much disfavour, and accused of preying on 
other birds. Careful observation, however, has entirely 
proved the fallacy of such an idea, and that the feathers 
are those of the bird itself.” 
Unsociable as the Crested Grebe is towards other 
birds, so much greater is the affection which subsists 
between the birds themselves. The two partners are 
rarely, if ever, seen separately: they migrate in com¬ 
pany,—at all events, they both appear simultaneously at 
the breeding pond. Every observer may remark how fond 
they seem to be of one another. When one is separated 
from the other it calls anxiously for its companion, until 
it returns to its side. While swimming they toy con¬ 
stantly with each other, their united calls blending in a 
singular kind of duet—the cry of the male being “keuk, 
keuk, keuk,” frequently repeated, and that of the female 
“ kraorr” and “ kruor.” The pair make preparations for 
nesting earlier or later, according as the young reeds begin 
to sprout. They seek out a spot, for which the different 
pairs dispute bravely, should there be more than one on 
the pond. The nest is placed in the neighbourhood of 
reeds, sedge, or rushes, always on the edge nearest the 
