GREENFINCH 383 



not found ^vitllin the tropics, is known in the extreme south as a 

 native of Australia and New Zealand. North America is credited 

 with seven species of Grebes, of which three (P. cristatus, P. griseigena, 

 and P. auritus) are admitted to be specifically inseparable from those 

 ah-eady named, and two (P. occidentalis and P. californicus) appear 

 to be but local forms ; the remaining two, P. dominicus and P. 

 ludovicianus, may, however, be accounted good species, and the last 

 differs so much from other Grebes that many systematists make it 

 the type of a distinct genus, Podilymhus. South America seems to 

 possess four" or five more species, one of which, the P. inicropterus of 

 Gould (Proc. Zool. Soc. 1858, p. 220), has been separated from the 

 genus Podicipes by Messrs. Sclater and Salvin {Exot. Ornithology, 

 p. 189, pi. xcv.), owing to the form of its bill, and the aborted con- 

 dition of its Mangs, which seem to render it absolutely flightless. 

 Lake Titicaca in Bolivia is, so far as is known at present, its only 

 habitat. Grebes in general, though averse from taking A\dng, have 

 much greater power of flight than would seem possible on examina- 

 tion of their alar organs, and are capable of prolonged aerial 

 journeys. Their plumage is short and close. Above it is com- 

 monly of some shade of brown, but beneath it is invariably white, 

 and so glossy as to be in much request for muffs and the trimming 

 of ladies' dresses. Some species are remarkable for the crests or 

 tippets, generally of a golden-chestnut colour, they assume in the 

 breeding season. P. auritus is particularly remarkable in this 

 respect, and when in its full nuptial attire presents an extraordinary 

 aspect, the head (being suiTOunded, as it were, by a nimbus or 

 aureole, such as that with which painters adorn saintly characters), 

 reflecting the rays of light, and glittering with a glory that passes 

 description. All the species seem to have similar habits of nidifica- 

 tion. Water-weeds are pulled from the bottom of the pool, and 

 piled on a convenient foundation, often a seminatant growth of bog- 

 bean (Menyanthes), till they form a large mass, with a shallow cup 

 in the centre, wherein the eggs, Avith a chalky white shell almost 

 equally pointed at each end, are laid — the parent covering them, 

 whenever she has time to do so, before leaving the nest. Young 

 Grebes are beautiful objects, clothed with black, white, and brown 

 hair, disposed in streaks, and their bill is often brilliantly tinted 

 with orange or yellow. When taken from the nest and placed on 

 dry ground, it is curious to observe the way in which they progress — 

 using the wings almost as fore-feet, and suggesting the notion that 

 they must be quadrupeds instead of birds {Ibis, 1889, p. 577). In 

 water, however, they equal if not surpass their parents in the power 

 of diving, which is a special accomplishment of all Grebes. 



GEEENFINCH (German G-runfinh) or Green Linnet, as it is 

 very often called, a common European bird, the Fringilla chloris of 



