WONDERS OF THE WILD

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 1008, 24 December 1910, Page 10

WONDERS OF THE WILD

A BIRD THAT CANNOT WACK,. * . ; THE CRESTED GREBE.

(Br Will Lawsox.) >

(All Eights Reserved.) ' Lying between bush-covered tile lake reflected the sombre green of slopes and . the vivid blue of the sky ia water so still, that its surface was a great mirror. The sun was dipping toward tho high range, there was no wind, and th'era ; appeared to be no life in the" scene at . all. But away among some reeds in a/' small, remote arm . of the lake, where a}, tree had fallen so that its limbs sprawle4| in tile water, a crested grebe and hiji mate were very busy indeed. .They were 'I building a nest, a new nest, for the ono j they had used for many a year had beea'l taken or destroyed by some human hand,

.They had selected.a place w-hero th«ii ; boughs oi the failen treo were just submerged, and the reeds were tall about it. In.the beginning both'birdsWent foraging for material wherewith to build. This material consisted, chietly ; of decayed weeds and reeds that lay on the bottom -' ■ the lake, and when the nest first fc&;;nn to take shape it was a sloppy-lcokinjr affair. Then the grebe's, mate stayed in \ the nest, and he went diving alone. Swim- , ming low in tho water, and looking es- ' tremely sedate, tho grebe cleared tho patch of reeds and dived. With head lowered and web-feet driving like twin, propellers, he reached the bottom of the lake,;where lay a.fine selection.of build, ing material. Carefullv .he scanned it over, seized several stalks, in. Ms!bill and, rose swiftly.' Once at iho "surface again, he, swam swiftly, to his mate with his -burden. She was turning and treading the .sloppy nest into shape, l half-lolling oa her breast, lor the grebe's legs are so far 1 back that they cannot walk unless tho body.is half-supported by the,-water. On the side of the nest nest to the water a ' sloppy approach was b'eing made for tho birds to clamber in and out of the nest. They worked together, well.. They had been mates for several.years, and, like all their kind, they would be matesfor life--until one or the other or' both paid tho ■' last debt to Jiature. . ; As the grebe swam away to 1 get mora A-eeds a slant of sunshine, falling on tha ' reed-grewn water, struck his'variegated : plumage iiito vivid relief against the sombre'colouring of the- bush beliind him. , , His face, neck, back, ■ and wings, wero .brown, his chin white, a rufus ruff about his neck, and his black-topped head surmounted by two crests o£ .feathers that resembled ears. .Just below, water gleam- , ed his breast, silvery .white, his shoulders . were white, and there was'a band : of the same colouring across each wing/ His body was shaped like a wsdge— d arrow, at the neckband he'had no tail 'at all.'. Altogether a queer-looking object, skimming swiftly over'the glassy wa'tir. - .'"When the nest was-finished, it was about a foot above the '.water, and was : woven . strongly around the tree-limbs: Tha. sloping approach leading up to it-'termin-uted ata.wide basin-like'depression, and in' this place the grebe's -mate .laid three eggs.At fiJst these w&re greenish-white, but .in a few days, the colour .changed to a light brown. .Both birds took.turns at sitting, and the slow process of incubatioi . went on undisturbed. :• - -It was a hot December evening/ Thfl grebe had been relieved on .the nest by hisi'raate, and' was swimming; over tha quiet lake. - Presently he would seek his evening meal of aquatic'insects." As ha slimmed along'there,came to him a soft, subdued knocking sound,, and he, paused in his swimming. ... The , sound grew, . aud mingled with 'it was a splashing 'of water. Suddenly the grebe dived, : There was scarcely-a ripple to mark tha' place of his disappearance. .■ Round a point, lake-shore cama r a'''J^>at.,Jjpwe(L"slQ^lj, by' a. girl,':;,SKe;:pften '"ca'me'oh the lake at evening : 'by'-.herself, and she and. the ■ grebe. were really old friends. But this shyest of birds always went through the same ..performance. When he' dived he set off at right angles to his former, course. . His .web-feet'drove him' along at a great pace. Then he turned and..steered straight for the sound, till; the; boat-was' right overhead:-'. Again he swerved and, like a-torpedo, he sped through-the under-tide, away, away from the boat. At a safe,distance he rose until his eyes, were just above water, and from this ; position lie viewed, the boat and its occupant. , ,! The girl rested on her. oars; her eyes, soft and dreamy, were, fixed on the lino of'tho'hills that the ; sun had set be. hind. Taking up her -oars again she paddled slowly forward, singing sweetly as she rowed. Evidently satisfied, ;froin his scrutiny, of tho harmlessnoss ■of the intruder,. the grebe rose with a- splash from his, submerged- position 'and. sent a whistling cry across the'wateri 'The girl stopped singing and. laughed, "Ah, there'-a my pretty bird." But-the grebe went no nearer,'- and when she turned the boat towards him, he dived once more .aid went' home, pick- . ing.up stray morsels on his way. ' When the three eggs were hatched thera was a. to-do in tho old reed-bed. The youngsters took ,to the water-.like young ducklings, and the mother found it-hard work to keep tho swift little swimmers together. Now one, now another would dart'away like a launch from tho;shadow of a battleship. The gTebe himself. was always,in the offing ' ready _to act the part "of decoy in case the family, came un-. cler the observation of unfriendly ."eyes. In the, quiet of the , dawn....the : ,grebel had taken his. family further', afield in search of- better fare., The lake was al- ' ways very quiet .at dawn; the.boat never . came then. The parent grebes swam demurely along; the youngsters dashed hers'' and there, or dived and reappeared suddenly,- in absolute joy of life. There were brown'ducks and: grey ducks and Paradise ducks and teal on the lake, feeding, and some little grebe and dabchicks, but the crested grebes stood out aniong them,-all. So thought the girl, • hidden by the bushes,:on the shore of tha - lake. -She-had come quietly, to try and discover just where the grebo dwelt. The girl was a bird-lover, and had with her a camera to try. and get a ! photograph. But. the picture ; before her was something she had never expected to see, and in her excitement she forgot all ; about licv camera. ""Presently some impulse made her look across the lake-end, where the bush came right down' to the water. There i she saw a - gun-barrel, bright in the light of the rising . Sun, and pointing at the grebe. The sight brought anger into her blood. Like, a flash she raised ■ her camera ;and snapped it recklessly, and the -snap, as she intended it should be,, was the signal for a swirl of .water where the grebes dived; the roar of the gun, whose shot whipped the lake-surface, came too late. And the, girl took ber camera and ran. Under water the' grebe gathered his . family together, and, took-them by sheltered ways to a Temote part of the lake, right away from the nest, to, which they did not return till nightfall. And it' was many weeks ere he mustered courage to • show" himself'to his evening visitor who still came in-thc boat to see him.