RED-NECKED GREBE. 3II 



reck is carried well erect. A broad white border to the wing 

 is very conspicuous in flight, and the forward edge of the wing 

 is pale as far as the carpal joint. The swimming, diving, and 

 feeding habits closely agree with those of the last species, and 

 its voice, which is seldom heard in Britain, is said to be similar ; 

 it is, however, less averse to terrestrial progression. Mr. G. 

 Bolam says that it " walks upright," and saw one disabled bird 

 hop rapidly down the beach. I have not seen the British 

 bird on land, but a captive American Red-necked Grebe, P, g. 

 holboellii Reinh., stood with ease and grace, bending the tarsus 

 but little, and walked as naturally as a duck. Crustaceans, 

 molluscs, and fish are eaten, and in fresh water aquatic insects. 

 When a fish is brought to the surface it is gripped until its 

 struggles have ceased and then swallowed head foremost ; one 

 bird I watched did not toss its prey, nor even jerk its head up, 

 but shifted the captive in its bill until it slipped down. 



The upper part of the head and back of the neck are glossy 

 black in summer, when the ear-tufts are prominent ; there is 

 no ruff. The chin and cheeks are suffused with pearl-grey, 

 bordered from the bill to the eye with pure w^hite. The upper 

 parts are greyish brown, the sides of the neck and breast rich 

 chestnut, the flanks rufous grey, and the rest of the under parts 

 silky white with underlying grey mottles. The bill is black, 

 yellow at the base ; the legs are greenish black, the irides 

 carmine, but yellower in young birds. The ear-tufts are much 

 reduced in winter, though the bird retains a flat-headed appear- 

 ance, and all the neck colour is lost ; grey flecks often show on 

 the breast, and the bill is yellower. For- some time young birds 

 show traces of the neck streaks ; one, in which the red neck 

 and ear-tufts were well developed, had the cheeks crossed by 

 two pale brown bars. The size is variable ; the American 

 sub-species mainly differs in size, being on the average larger 

 than ours. It is possible that large examples may have trans- 

 Atlantic origin. Length, i8 ins. Wing, 7 ins. Tarsus, 2 ins. 



