GREAT CRESTED GREBE 225 



and swiftness, many of them bcinL,^ migrator}^ in their habits. In all 

 cases the chicks are marked by light and dark longitudinal stripes, as 

 in the game-birds and ostriches. The genus contains a large number 

 of species, with a collectively world-wide range. 



The great grebe, as this species may be called for shortness, together 

 with its red-necked cousin, is specially characterised by the proportion- 

 ately long beak, which exceeds the length of the inner toe and its claw. 

 On this account it has been made the type of a genus, under the name 

 of LopJicetJiyia cristata. In addition to being the largest member of 

 the group — with a length of about 2 i inches in the male — the species 

 is characterised in summer by the presence of a pair of large erectile 

 ear-like tufts at the back of the head, and of a fringe-like gorget 

 surrounding the greater part of the neck. In colour, the crown of the 

 head, the ear-like tufts, the back of the neck, and the upper-parts 

 generally are dark blackish brown ; the frill is chestnut at the base, 

 shading into the former colour near the tip ; the marginal wing-coverts 

 and the inner sides of the secondary quills are white ; the flanks dusky, 

 with a brightening tinge of chestnut ; the sides of the face, the throat, 

 the front portion of the neck, and the breast of the well-known shimmer- 

 ing satin-like white ; the beak is red at the base passing into dun- 

 colour ; and the eye is crimson. In winter the head-tufts and frill are 

 discarded.^ Young birds resemble the adults in winter-dress, with the 

 exception that the eye is straw-coloured. The chick while in down is 

 striped with black and white above, but is wholly white below, while 

 the crown of the head is ornamented with a brilliant vermilion heart- 

 shaped patch of bare skin. It would be interesting to know the 

 purpose of the latter feature. 



Apparently this bird is the true grebe, the name, which in the 

 twelfth century was spelt grib, being derived, it is believed, from the 

 same root as the Cornish crib and the Welsh criban, meaning a comb 

 or a crest, and referring, of course, to the ear-tufts of the present species. 

 The range of the great crested grebe is very extensive, including the 

 temperate regions of Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. To northern 

 India it is chiefly a winter- visitor, although it has been occasionally 

 found nesting there, as also in Kashmir. The normal breeding-range 

 includes the greater part of Europe as far north as Denmark and the 

 south of Sweden, and thence eastwards across Siberia to China and 

 Japan, while to the southward it embraces Australia and New Zealand. 

 The African form, which has been separated as a distinct species, 



1 In the last edition of Yarrelfs British Birds, vol. iv. p. 123, it is stated that these 

 appendages are persistent. 



