The Grebes. 



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THE 



BLACK-NECKED 



GREBE. 



(Proctopus 

 nigricollis.) 



The present species has a very thin bill, which is sHghtly 

 upturned at the end and wider at the base than it is deep. 

 In the summer plumage it is also distinguished by the black 

 fore-neck and chest, and by the heavy tuft of ornamental plumes 

 which spring from above the ear-coverts : these differ in 

 character and appearance from the ornamental feathers of the 

 Sclavonian Grebe. In winter the two birds are more alike, but the shorter wing I five 

 inches, and the shape of the bill will serve to separate the species. The Black- 

 Recked Grebe is an occasional visitor to Britain, generally in the sprmg and summer. 

 It nests in Central Europe and the Mediterranean countries and throughout temperate 

 Asia, as well as in many parts of Eastern and Southern Africa. In winter it is found 

 (in the coasts of China and the Indian Ocean. The nest is made of moss and reeds, 

 and the eggs are from three to five in number, of the usual greenish-white colour, 

 and they measure from an inch-and-three-quarters to nearly two inches. 



The Little Grebe. 



THE 

 LITTLE GREBE. 



(Podicipes 

 fiuviatilii.) 



This is the smallest and the commonest of the British Grebes, 

 and is familar to every one under its name of the ' Dab-chick.' In 

 summer the upper and under surface of the bird are alike black, 

 and the sides of the face and neck are chestnut, while the bill is 

 black, with a yellow tip and a mark of greenish-yellow at the base. 

 In winter the back is brown and the breast pure white. It is a resident species through- 

 out the British Islands, and occurs also all over Europe to Northern Asia and Japan. 

 The Little Grebe is, like the rest of its family, a very expert diver, and can swim 

 under water for a surprising distance. The birds will also take their young under 

 tliL-ir wing, and dive with them in this position, to escape danger. The nestlings 

 are pretty little creatures, with the upper parts and the throat striped with 

 black and rufous in zebra-like pattern. The nest is a mass of rotten reeds and 

 water plants, floating on the top of the water at the edge of a lake or river, and as the 

 bird covers her eggs on leaving the nest, the latter are generall\- quite invisible. The 

 eggs are at first white, but gradually become discoloured to a buffer brown colour; 

 they are five or si.x in number, and are about half-an-inch in length. 



