324 THE NESTS AND EGGS OF 



Family PODICIPEDID^. Genus Podiceps, 



BLACK-NECKED GREBE. 



Podiceps nigricollis, Brehm. 



(British : Abnormal spring and autumn migrant.) 



Single Brooded. Laying season, latter half of May, and early 



June. 



Breeding area : Southern Palaearctic region, Ethi- 

 opian region. The Black-necked Grebe breeds in 

 Prussia, and elsewhere in Northern Germany, and is 

 said to do so in Denmark. Southwards it breeds in 

 suitable localities throughout Central and Southern 

 Europe and Russia, as far north as Moscow. It breeds 

 commonly in the basin of the Mediterranean, and is 

 said to do so in Africa as far south as Damara Land, 

 the Transvaal, and Cape Colony. Eastwards it breeds 

 in Southern Siberia, sparely in Turkestan, and probably 

 in Mongolia and Manchooria. 



Breeding habits : The Black-necked Grebe is a 

 migrant in the colder and more northern portions of 

 its range, returning to its breeding haunts as soon as 

 they are free from ice, which in Europe is towards the 

 end of March or early in April, but in Asia some weeks 

 later. This Grebe cannot be regarded as generally 

 gregarious or even social ; it lives in scattered pairs, 

 and even in districts where it is abundant each pair 

 keep much to them.selves, although other nests may be 

 in the immediate vicinity. The bird pairs for life. In 

 the love season the note of this Grebe, usually heard 

 on warm, still evenings, is so quickly repeated as to 

 sound almost like a trill. The breeding haunts of the 

 Black-necked Grebe are fresh-water lakes and slow- 

 runnine rivers whose shores and banks are clothed with 



