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(iRi: BES AND DIVERS 



cannot well be rei^ardcd as more than a local race. Wherever in the 

 British Isles lar^e inland reedy pools or lakes occur, there may the 

 great grebe be expected to be found if the locality be sufficiently quiet 

 and free from molestation. Indeed, the bird is much less uncommon 

 in the south of England than was at one time supposed to be the case, 

 and has even bred for several years in succession in Richmond Park, 

 while in the Duke of Bedford's park at Woburn it constantly nests 

 within sight of the house. The Norfolk Broads, where the bird is mis- 

 called loon, are perhaps its chief haunts at the present, although it was 

 formerly abundant in the Lincolnshire fens, and is still met with in 

 some numbers on the Cheshire and Shropshire meres. Many Iri.sh 

 and Scotch lakes afford favourite breeding-places for this beautiful, 

 although shy and timid bird, but the breeding-range is not known to 

 extend northward of the Clyde valley. The Scotch birds, and probably 

 many of those inhabiting the north of England, migrate southwards in 

 winter ; and it is probably these, reinforced perhaps by wanderers from 

 the Continent, that are to be .seen on our southern coasts at this season. 

 Although on the lakes of Great Britain and Ireland it is rare to see 

 more than two or three pairs of the.se birds in the same locality, in 

 many parts of the Continent large colonies arc found breeding in 



company, each i)air keeping, however, 

 more or less to themselves. Grebes 

 feed on small fishes, frogs, water-beetles 

 and other aquatic insects, crustaceans, 

 and snails, but also consume a certain 

 amount of vegetable substances in 

 addition, as already mentioned, to their 

 own shed feathers. Generall)' a silent 

 bird, the grebe when alarmed utters 

 a double note which has been likened 

 to the syllables kck-kck ; but during 

 the breeding-season it has a special 

 harsh croaking cry. 



Like that of other members of its 

 tribe, the nest of the great grebe is a 

 lloating mass of vegetable matter, in 

 this instance of large size, which in 

 some cases may be found among reeds 

 at a considerable distance from the 

 hank of the lake or pool in which it is situated. In this are laid, 

 during the latter half of May or early in June, the three or four 



lOOT Ol- <;i<l Al GKKHK 



