Michael Brooke's charming centennial reappraisal of Julian Huxley's Courtship Habits of the Great Crested Grebe (Nature 513, 484; 2014) missed an opportunity to mention the starring role these birds had in Evelyn Waugh's 1938 satirical novel Scoop.
In this novel, Priscilla Boot — sister of nature writer William Boot — mischievously meddles with one of William's newspaper columns, swapping “badger” throughout for “great crested grebe”. The essay is duly printed — with the bird as its protagonist.
A prodigious correspondence ensues: one letter asks whether the author condones the practice of baiting these rare and beautiful birds with terriers; another challenges him to produce a single authenticated case of a great crested grebe attacking young rabbits.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Prince, R. Great crested grebe usurps badger. Nature 514, 305 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1038/514305e
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/514305e