GREBES 267 



note, as well as by Prof. Newton in his "Dictionary 

 of Birds." 



This bird is a local resident, migrating southward 

 in winter ; partial to large inland pools surrounded 

 by reed beds, such as the broads of Norfolk and the 

 meres of Shropshire and Cheshire, where it breeds 

 regularly, as it does also on many lakes in Scotland 

 and Ireland. (Ellison, ZooL, 1892, p. 425.) During 

 the last few years a pair or two of Great Crested 

 Grebes have annually reared their young so near 

 London as the Penn Ponds in Richmond Park. 



In Norfolk this bird is known as the Loo7i 

 (Stevenson and Southwell, vol. iii. pp. 223-254), 

 although this name is elsewhere bestowed on the 

 Red-throated Diver or Sprat Loon, and in Lincoln- 

 shire Gaunt {Zool., 1879, p. 76). For a suggested 

 explanation of the latter name see Zool., 1884, p. 

 350. Prof. Newton ("Diet. Birds," p. 381) derives 

 " grebe " from the French grebe : it seems more 

 likely that the name is indicative of its crest ; 

 Cornish and Welsh ci^ib and criban, a comb or 

 crest (Skeat). "The tall grib'' occurs in an L'ish 

 poem believed to be as old as the twelfth century 

 {cf. Wilde, Proc. Roy. Irish Acad., vol.vii. p. 1857). 

 Grebes in preening their plumage habitually swallow 

 feathers, which are subsequently ejected in the form 

 of " pellets," similar to the " castings " of hawks 

 and owls. 



The structure of the leg bones is deserving of 

 examination, as being curiously correlated with habit. 

 (See Newstead, Research, Jan. 1, 1889, and Proc. 



