882 
BIKD-LIFE. 
objects of great affection on the part of the old birds, who 
carefully instruct them in the art of swimming, and later 
on teach them to dive, after the manner already described. 
The father usually undertakes the duty of watchman 
when leading the family; and accompanied by his spouse, 
the two together bravely attack their weaker enemies. It 
is long before the young become able to fly, though in 
the meantime they have not only learnt to swim and dive 
to perfection, but also to seek their own nourishment. 
The Great Crested Grebe is taken on the wing by the 
larger birds of prey, but never when swimming. It dives 
like a flash of lightning, so that the gunner must calculate 
his shot well if he wishes to be successful. Here and 
there this bird is much hunted for the sake of its skin, 
which is used for muffs and tippets, though it is incom¬ 
parably inferior in value and density to the skin of a 
mammal. On this account this bird, which forms such a 
graceful adjunct to the beauty of our lakes and ponds, 
ought to remain unmolested. That it is really injurious 
to fisheries is an absurd idea; for if it does occasionally 
catch a fish or two, this cannot be held sufficient to 
counterbalance the good done by the bird in destroying 
numbers of noxious insects and their larvas. 
