BLACK-NECKED AND SCLAVONIAN GREBE. 333 



There is strong evidence that the Black-necked Grebe, 

 Podiceps nigricoUis, Brehm, has bred in our islands, in 

 Norfolk, but up to the present time no nest has been 

 actually discovered. Booth records {Rough Notes) that he 

 had an old bird with two downy nestlings brought to him 

 by a marshman, but it is most extraordinary that such 

 a painstaking and observant naturalist (thoroughly well 

 aware of the importance of the discovery) should fail to 

 remember either the date or the locality of the occur- 

 rence ! There can be little doubt that this species 

 would breed with us more or less regularly if not so 

 persecuted in the spring, when its beautiful nuptial 

 plumage attracts the fatal attention of the sportsman 

 and the collector (or rather slayer) of rare birds. The 

 nesting habits of this bird resemble those of allied 

 species. The eggs are laid in May and June, and are 

 four or five in number, creamy white when newly laid, 

 but soon become stained. Average measurement, i'8 

 inch in length, by 1-15 inch in breadth. 



The Sclavonian Grebe, Podiceps cornutus (Gmelin), is 

 said to nest sparingly near some fresh-water lochs at 

 Gairloch in Ross-shire, but until better evidence is 

 forthcoming I must decline to admit this species into 

 the present work. Its nesting economy is similar to 

 that of allied species. The eggs, laid in May and 

 June, are four or five in number, and practically 

 indistinguishable from those of P. nigricoUis. 



