EGGS OF BRITISH BIRDS. 79 



FAMILY PODICIPITIDsE, 

 OB GREBES. 



Of the five species of Grebes found in Great Britain two are 

 resident and three are spring and autumn visitors on migration. 



THE GKEAT CRESTED GREBE. 

 (Podicipes crista t us.) 



Plate 22, Fig. 10. 



The Great Crested Grebe is a somewhat local resident in the 

 British Islands, and it has only recently been discovered breeding 

 in Scotland, Mr. Robert Read having taken eggs near the Clyde. 

 Though rare on the west coast of the latter country in the winter, 

 it has been known to stray as far north as the Shetlands ; it is, 

 however, more frequent on the east coast. It breeds in Ireland 

 on several of the large sheets of fresh-water. 



The range of the Great Crested Grebe extends over the whole 

 of the Palsearctic region, as well as India, and it is also found in 

 Australia. It does not inhabit North America, and the African 

 species appears to be different. 



The nests are formed of weeds and rushes, and are always 

 damp. Those which I found in Pomerania contained three or 

 four eggs. They were warm and covered with damp moss ; but 

 in the nests containing only one or two eggs, the latter were 

 uncovered and cold. The natural inference is that the eggs are 

 not covered until the female begins to sit, and that the object of 

 covering them is not protective, at least in the technical sense in 

 which that word is now used. The Grebes cover their eggs, not 

 to conceal them from enemies, but to protect them from cold. 



The eggs of the Great Crested Grebe are green, as may be seen 

 by looking through the hole against the light ; but this ground- 

 colour is almost entirely obscured by an irregular and often rough 

 layer of chalky white. The large end is seldom much more 

 rounded than the small end. They vary in length from 2'4 to 20 

 inches, and in breadth from 1*6 to 1'3 inch. Small eggs 

 occasionally measure less in one of their dimensions than large 



