LITTLE GREBE. 2og 



not range very far north in Europe, reaching to 62° in Scan- 

 dinavia, and it winters in the countries of the Mediterranean, 

 as there are specimens in the British Museum from Marocco, 

 Egypt, Palestine, and Asia Minor ; it doubtless also breeds in 

 these southern habitats. In China it is represented by an 

 allied form, Podicilcs philippemis^ wh'ch breeds in China, and 

 winters in the south in the Philippines, being replaced in the 

 Moluccas by Fodicipes tricolor. In India a white-quilled 

 species takes its place, Fodicipes alhipeiinis, while the African 

 Little Grebe, Fodiciprs capensis, is again distinct, and is 

 represented in Madagascar by Fodicipes pelzelni. In Australia 

 Fodicipes gularis takes the place of P. fluviatilis^ and in 

 America the latter species is represented by Fodicipes 

 dojni7iicus 



Habits. — One of the most interesting accounts of the habits 

 of the Little Grebe is that contributed by Mr. Bryan Hook to 

 Seebohm's " History of British Birds": — 



"On the 25th of March I found a Dabchick's nest on one of 

 our small ponds about a foot from the water's edge, partly 

 concealed by a tuft of heather on the bank above it. The pond 

 was at the bottom of a field where a man was ploughing, and 

 at the end of each furrow, as he passed the nest, the bird first 

 carefully covered her eggs, then slipped into the water without 

 the slightest splash, and remained concealed under the water 

 amongst the reeds close to the nest. A fortnight afterwards I 

 found the old bird very reluctant to move, and when, at last, 

 she did dive away, she left her eggs uncovered. Two days 

 later I found the old bird sitting in the nest with two young, 

 and all dived away on my approach, the young ones coming 

 up about five yards from the shore, where they floated motion- 

 less. I did not see the young birds again until a fortnight 

 later when I found them on the nest, wonderfully grown and 

 able to dive about 15 yards. Nearly a month later, on the 

 30th of May, the two young birds w^ere full grown, and whilst 

 one of the parents took charge of them, the other sat upon five 

 eggs in another nest in a similar situation on the other side of 

 the pond. She was very restless, constantly getting off and 

 on the nest. At length she found me out, and after carefully 

 covering her eggs, slipped into the water behind the nest and 

 15 ^ 



