still and silent I
dare say it will appear again. There it is, dabbling in the water in
search of water insects that are found amongst the weeds. Another name
of this bird is the little grebe; several species of grebes have been
found in this county; the great-crested grebe is a very handsome bird
and frequents lakes and rivers; but of the five British grebes, the
little dabchick is by far the most common. The feet of these birds are
peculiar, the toes are not connected together by a web, as you see in
ducks and geese; they are, however, united at the base, and each of
the three front toes is surrounded by a broad continuous membrane; the
lower part of the leg is also very flat; the legs are placed very far
backwards, so that these birds stand almost upright; the wings are
short and seldom used for flight; however, they are admirable swimmers
and divers, and pretty, lively little birds. The plumage of this
little grebe varies according to the time of year. Now, in the summer
weather, the head, neck and back are a very dark brown; the cheeks and
front of the neck a rich chestnut; chin jet black; in the winter they
lose this chestnut colour, and are then of a light olive-grey colour
and white underneath. Formerly the two different states of the plumage
were thought to mark two different species.

The nest, as Mr. Gould tells us, is a raft of weeds and aquatic plants
carefully heaped together in a rounded form. The young ones have
delicate rose-coloured bills and harlequin-like markings on the body,
and rosy-white breasts. "So active and truly aquatic is the dabchick,
even when only one or two days old, that it is almost impossible to
see it in a state of nature; for immediately after the young birds are
hatched, they either take to the water of their own accord, or cling
when not more than an hour old to the backs of their parents, who dive
away with them out of harm's way." Mr. Gould mentions that a friend of
his, when out on a fishing excursion with him, once shot a dabchick as
it dived across a shallow stream; on emerging wounded, on the surface,
two young ones clinging to the back were caught by Mr. Gould in his
landing net.

So rapid is their diving that they can often avoid the charge of a
gun; they then rise again "with only the tips of their bill above
water, and even these generally concealed amongst some patch of weeds
or grass." The grebes have a peculiar habit of plucking off the soft
feathers from the unde