GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 249 



It is a very fine bird, in the immature state of plumage which has 

 obtained for it the name of the " Speckled Diver." Its length is 

 twenty-six inches ; expanse of wing, three feet six inches ; and it 

 weighs three pounds and three quarters." The bird is now in 

 Mr. Blake's possession. 



The Red-throated Diver is sometimes called the " Rain- 

 goose," because its wailing cries are thought to foretell wet and 

 stormy weather. 



Family— PODICIPID^. 



Genus— PODICEPS. 



PODICEPS CRISTATUS— Great Crested Grebe. 



The Great Crested Grebe, or Loon, is a visitant all the year 

 round, on Llangorse Lake, in Breconshire, some five or six miles 

 beyond the boundary of Herefordshire. In 1852, one was shot on 

 the Wye, near Ross, and is now in the Hereford Museum. Two fine 

 specimens, male and female, were shot on the pond at Shobdon, in 

 the spring of 1880, and are in the possession of Lord Bateman. 

 A young immature specimen was also killed on the Wye at Wilton, 

 in December, 1881, and is now in the possession of Mr. W. C. 

 Blake, of Ross. 



The nest of the Great Crested Grebe is composed of half- 

 rotten decaying water-plants, and built among the reeds and rushes, 

 nearly level with the surface of the water, and is generally very wet. 

 The eggs, which are quite white when laid, become very much 

 stained and discoloured in consequence. The parent birds are 

 very careful of their young, and at the least alarm will dive down 

 with them, placing them safely under their wings. They feed them 

 with young eels, small Crustacea, and a little vegetable food ; they 

 are also very fond of tadpoles and small frogs. 



The Great Crested Grebe is a veiy handsome bird, and the 

 beautiful silvery whiteness of the under surface of its body, has 

 caused it to be sometimes called the " Satin Grebe." 



