THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 385 



THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 



Podiceps cristatiis. 



[Read 30th March, 1SS6.] 



One living in our latitude seldom has the satis- 

 faction of handling in the flesh so beautiful an 

 example as that which I am now privileged to lay 

 before you, of the Great Crested Grebe, one of the 

 rarest of our British birds, and, with the exception 

 of the Eared Grebe, the rarest of its tribe.* The 

 bird was shot at Kilmun in the last week in 

 February, and was sent to Mr. H. Martin, Taxider- 

 mist, for preservation. Before removing the skin, 

 Mr. Martin kindly allowed me to examine the 

 plumage ; and he afterwards gave me the body of 

 the bird, which on dissection proved to be a female. 

 The ovary was full of eggs, those most develoj^ed 

 being about the size of swan shot. 



The bird had all but passed through the moult 

 and completed the perfect summer dress. The eye 

 had attained the lustrous spring hue, corresponding 

 to the rich brownish red on the side of the head 

 which fades as the summer advances; and the breast 

 had that lovely silvery sheen so much coveted for 

 purposes of dress by ladies of taste. The head and 

 neck are in the moult, the wing coverts and second- 

 ary wing feathers changing from dusky black to 

 white. The legs and feet are dark, mottled with 

 yellow, the white and yellow taking the place of 

 the darker colours. 



The bird weighed 1 lb. 5 oz., and measured as 

 follows : From point of bill to claws of the extended 

 legs, 25 inches ; from the same point to the tarsal 

 joint where the feathers terminate, 21 inches. 



* The Grebes, even more than the Gulls and Swallows, are 

 popularly known by their generic names only, "big dabchick" 

 and "little dabchick" being almost the sole specific names 

 by which the members of this family are distinguished by the 

 gunner of the coast and common who reckons them to be his 

 most " kittle " shot. 



