It was no doubt a dabchick, then, from your description, though I was not in time to see it before it dived; if we keep quite still and silent I dare say it will appear again. From Wordnik.com. [Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children] Reference
Old Joe and Bob grunted approbation, and Mordacks himself was beginning to believe that some dark whirlpool or coil of tangles had drowned the poor diver, when a very gentle noise, like a dabchick playing beneath a bridge, came from the darkest corner. From Wordnik.com. [Mary Anerley] Reference
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. From Wordnik.com. [Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children] Reference
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. From Wordnik.com. [Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children] Reference
"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.". From Wordnik.com. [Country Walks of a Naturalist with His Children] Reference
Hardly a wild-duck is now seen; one or two moorhens or a dabchick seem all. From Wordnik.com. [The Life of the Fields] Reference
If the kingfisher can find a living and abundant fish in our rivers and brooks, why does the dabchick migrate?. From Wordnik.com. [The Naturalist on the Thames] Reference
The most expert waterman that sculls his skiff on the Thames or Isis, is but an humble and unskillful imitator of the dabchick. From Wordnik.com. [Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds] Reference
Thus far, we have got for representatives of our dabchick group, eight species of little birds -- namely, two Torrent-ouzels, three. From Wordnik.com. [Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds] Reference
Mr. Gould seems to think that the dabchick likes insects and fish spawn better than fish, or at least more prudently dines upon them. From Wordnik.com. [Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds] Reference
Oh, and easily amused - many years ago I noticed that the dictionary at school defined a dabchick as a grebe, a grebe as a loon, and a loon as - a dabchick. From Wordnik.com. [Libertarian Blog Place] Reference
The water was still troubled and discoloured by his introductory adventure, and, though he ducked his head with the spirit of a dabchick, the book was missing. From Wordnik.com. [Ordeal of Richard Feverel — Complete] Reference
A damp, rheumatic place, she said to herself, although she loved the river; and its backwaters, full of wild duck and dabchick and the moorhens, were enchanting places. From Wordnik.com. [Love of Brothers] Reference
All these diving motions are executed in a more delicate but quite as wonderful way by the dabchick, -- more wonderful indeed it may be said, because it has only the divided or chestnut-leaf-like foot, to strike with. From Wordnik.com. [Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds] Reference
In favorable situations, however, and with the aid of a telescope, the process may be watched; and it is not a little interesting to notice with what remarkable quickness the dabchick scratches the weeds over her eggs with her feet, when she perceives herself observed, so as not to lead even to the suspicion that any were deposited on the ill-shapen floating mass. From Wordnik.com. [Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds] Reference
I got a dabchick -- they're growing scarce -- not long ago. ". From Wordnik.com. [The Long Portage] Reference
I can therefore study it only in Mr. Gould's drawing, on consulting which, I find the bird to be simply a sea dabchick, -- brown stripes on the back, and all; but the webs of the feet a little finer, and in its habits it is more like the Lily-ouzel, according to the following report of Mr.St. John: "The red-necked phalarope is certainly the most beautiful little wader of my acquaintance. From Wordnik.com. [Love's Meinie Three Lectures on Greek and English Birds] Reference
The little grebe or dabchick. From Wordnik.com. [Birds of the Indian Hills] Reference
I recognized it as the dabchick. From Wordnik.com. [Life at Puget Sound: With Sketches of Travel in Washington Territory, British Columbia, Oregon and California] Reference
And so, glancing over the hills from Bellegra, I sent my thoughts into those Abruzzi mountains, and registered a vow to revisit Scanno -- if only in order to traverse once more by moonlight, for the sake of auld lang syne, the devious paths to Roccaraso, or linger in that moist nook by the lake-side where stood the Scanno of olden days (the Betifuli, if such it was, of the Pelignians), where the apples grow, where the sly dabchick plays among the reeds, and where, one evening, I listened to something that might have been said much sooner. From Wordnik.com. [Alone] Reference
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