BLACK-NECKED GREBE. 



205 



with white on the inner webs, secondaries entirely white, 

 except the innermost, which are like the back ; tail black ; 

 head and neck black, the crown having a frill composed of 

 elongated feathers; the ear coverts chestnut and composed of 

 elongated plumes, which are surmounted by a superciliary tuft 

 of similar elongated feathers of a golden straw-colour, this tuft 

 starting from the eye ; cheeks and entire throat black ; 

 remainder of under surface, from the fore-neck downwards, 

 silvery white ; the sides of the body slightly mottled with 

 blackish markings, and having also chestnut-tipped feathers, 

 especially developed on the sides of the rump ; under wing- 

 coverts and axillaries white ; " bill black ; bare space between 

 the eye and the base of the bill reddish-black ; legs and feet 

 olive-green, paler on the webs ; iris crimson " {Seehohm). 

 Total length, 12-0 inches ; culmen, 0*95 ; wing, 5*0 ; tail, 1-35 ; 

 tarsus, 17. 



Adult Female. — Similar to the male. Total length, 1 1 inches ; 

 wing, 5-1. 



Winter Plumage. — Blackish above, with slightly greyer edges 

 to the feathers ; head and neck blackish, as well as the lores and 

 feathers below and behind the eye ; sides of face, ear-coverts, 

 and under surface of body silky white, the sides of the body 

 mottled with ashy-blackish ends to the feathers ; sides of upper 

 neck white ; sides of lower neck dusky-brown, meeting across 

 the fore-neck and forming a collar ; wings dark brown, the 

 secondaries white, with the exception of the innermost, which 

 are white only on the inner web, the last ones being like the 

 back ; the inner primaries white along the inner web. 



Characters. — In breeding plumage the Black-necked Grebe is 

 distinguished by the black fore-neck and chest, which resemble 

 the throat, though sometimes the chest shows a little rufous, 

 but never anything like the entirely chestnut chest of D. auritus. 

 The tuft of crest-feathers behind the eye is darker chestnut 

 and more hairy in texture. In winter plumage the up-turned 

 shape of the bill and the white on the inner primaries dis- 

 tinguish P. nigricollis^ and the same characters may be 

 employed for the determination of immature birds. 



Range in Great Britain. — The present species is a bird of 

 Southern Europe, and occurs more frequently in spring and 



