16 DABCHICK,
uncommon at Y a r m o u t h and elsewhere; also in Lincolnshire. In
N o t t i n g h a m s h i r e they occur on the Trent. In Cornwall they are
plentiful on Swanpool, near F a l m o u t h ; so likewise i n Devonshire.
I n Scotland the species is equally common as in England, in
S u t h e r l a n d s h i r c , Dumfriesshire, and other parts, and is commonly met
w i t h i n the F r i t h of F o r t h , and on to C a i t h n e s s ; likewise in Shetland
a n d Orkney. So also in I r e l a n d it is indigenous.
I n some parts of the c o u n t r y t h e D a b c h i c k disappears, so it is said,
i n winter. In Y o r k s h i r e it is constantly seen at that season, as well as
i n summer, except indeed when its usual places of haunt are frozen u p,
and then, as a matter of course, it is obliged to quit them for a time.
I n frosty w e a t h e r they a r c compelled from the l a r g e r pieces of standing
water to the r u n n i n g stream.
This Grebe is n a t u r a l l y shy, b u t becomes accustomed to the sight of
p a s s e r s b y t h e w a t e r that it i n h a b i t s , a n d its q u i c k movements in diving
may be watched not far off with little disturbance of its proceedings.
T h e y occasionally, as I have said, enter the sea close to t h e shore in
those places where their accustomed haunts arc adjacent to it.
T h e Dabchick, like some other birds previously mentioned, lias the
power of sinking its body u n d e r the water, t h e head only and the tail
b e i n g kept out, and of then wholly s u b m e r g i n g itself, if n e e d be, aud
d i v i n g off to some distance, when it rises as s u d d e n l y as it went down,
a n d with a shake of the head, urges itself on its way. If suddenly
s t a r t l e d , it is curious to sec how ' i n s t a n t e r ' it vanishes with a quick
p l a s h , and this is even more especially to be admired, if it has risen
to the surface after having been before alarmed, when, if t h e cause of
d i s q u i e t u d e is still visible, its descent again seems but a continuation
of its u p w a r d movement. It is able to remain u n d e r n e a t h the water
for an almost incredible time, if n e e d be, and when anxious to escape
from t h r e a t e n i n g danger, r a r e l y resorts to flight, though it will do so
at times, b u t endeavours to conceal itself after the first a l a rm among
t h e tangled plants that fringe the margin, or carpet the floor of its
n a t i v e element.
I f alarmed they dive, t h i s , as j u s t said, b e i n g the mode of escape
t h e y prefer to attempt. They are s p i r i t e d birds, and when taken will
a t t a c k any object within their reach. The young, when hatched,
p r e s e n t l y take to t h e water, and swim about with their parents to be
fed, diving also with innate readiness.
I have only seen these little things fly close over the water, with
t r a i l i n g legs, d a p p l i n g the surface as they have gone along. They have
however been observed flying at a height of from six to ten feet.
T h e i r flight is tolerably rapid. It is on and below the surface of the
w a t e r , however, that they are most at ease, and every movement is
characterized by the most consummate d e x t e r i t y and facile quickness and
a g i l i t y : the most expert waterman that sculls his skill' on the Thames
or the Isis, is but an humble and unskilful imitator of the Dabchick.
I n moving straightforward the whigs arc used to aid t h e i r progress, as
if in the air, and in t u r n i n g ' i t has an easy g l i d i n g motion, feet and
wings being used as occasion requires, sometimes on one side and
sometimes on the other.' This species walks but indifferently, as may
readily be imagined from the position of the legs, so very far back.
I t is pleasant to watch the p a r e n t bird feeding her young.—Down
she dives with a quick turn, and p r e s e n t l y rises again with, five times
out of six, a minnow, or other little fish, g l i t t e r i n g like silver in her
bill. The young rush towards the spot where the mother has come
up, b u t she docs not drop the fish into the water for t h em to receive,
until she has well shaken it about and k i l l e d it, so that it may not
escape, when for the last time in its own clement. I have seen a
young chick, which had j u s t seized, out of its t u r n I have no doubt,
the captured prey, chased away by her, and pursued in apparent
anger, as if for punishment, the following one having the next fish
willingly given to it without any demur. I have noticed the old b i rd
feeding the young one so late as the 1-ttli. of September. Small fish
or fry comprise their o r d i n a r y food, t o g e t h e r with shrimps and marine
insects, when sojourning for a while by the sea. Plants arc also made
use of, and some of the feathers of the bird itself are swallowed.
A Dabchick was found dead at Witchinghain, in Norfolk, a p p a r e n t ly
choked by a b u l l - h e a d fish, which it had been swallowing, t h e spines
being seen sticking in its throat. Other similar instances have very
often occurred.
The note of this i n t e r e s t i n g species is a lively, p r e t t y , a n d sonorous,
though somewhat shrill c h i r r u p i n g , q u i c k l y repeated. It is u t t e r ed
when on the wing in the spring, as well as when on the water at
other times. It has been likened, and not i l l , to the sound made by
drawing a stick across a rail.
The nest of t h e D a b c h i c k , w h i c h is placed at a l i t t l e distance, often
as much as twenty or t h i r t y yards, from the water, on or among any
plants that grow near the sides of r i v e r s , lakes, a n d ponds, is composed
of short pieces of roots, reeds, r u s h e s , and flags, and a considerable
q u a n t i t y of these is occasionally p u t together, sometimes to t h e height
of a foot or m o r e ; when d r y t h e whole n a t u r a l l y becomes very b r i t t l e.
I t is seldom raised more than an inch or two above the water, so
t h a t , except in hot seasons, it g e n e r a l l y is quite soaked with water.
I h c hen bird may be seen pecking about her while on t h e nest.
VOL. vi. D