374 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. vi. 



longest primaries \\'as 57 i in. — or 2 in. short of 5 ft. — the 

 weight, 3 lb. 9 oz. 



There are about thirt}^ Irish records in the nineteenth 

 century, and a few since — the great bulk of them being, as 

 might be expected, from the northern and ^\•este^n counties, 

 especially IMayo. Richard M. Baerington. 



RED-NECKED GREBE IN HERTFORDSHIRE. 

 Of the three species of Grebe — Red-necked, Black-necked, 

 and Slavonian — which occasionally visit the Tring Reservoirs, 

 the Red-necked (Colymbus g. griseigena) is perhaps the rarest, 

 and it may be of interest to record the occurrence on 

 March 16th, 1913, of a bird in summer-dress. I have been 

 about the reservoirs frequently during the past five years, 

 but have only once before seen a Red-necked Grebe — a bird 

 in winter -plumage, on December 18th, 1910. When in 

 summer-dress the Red-necked is easily distinguished in the 

 field from the Great Crested Grebe, but in A^inter there is 

 a general resemblance in the plumage of the two species, 

 although the back of the Red-necked appears to be rather 

 darker than that of the more common bird. The Great 

 Crested, it is true, is rather the larger, but unless the birds 

 are side by side the difference in size is not very noticeable. 

 The Red-necked, however, always appears to be more 

 stoutly built, with a body broader in proportion to its length 

 and a neck shorter and less slender, than the larger bird ; 

 and this stouter habit will serve at all seasons to attract 

 one's attention to it, even when the bird is too far off for 

 the details of its plumage to be made out. 



Chas. Oldham. 



WHISKERED TERN IN SUFFOLK. 



The record of the Whiskered Tern {Hydrochelidon I. 

 leiicopareia) mentioned in the March Number of British 

 Birds, p. 324, was sent in to the B.O.C. Migration Committee 

 by me. As your reviewer casts some doubt on this record 

 I think it is as well that I should supply the following details : 

 The bird — an adult — was seen and clearly identified by 

 me at Shingle Street, It A\'as amongst a large flock of 

 Common Terns, I saw it at close quarters on September 16th 

 and 17th, 1910. M. J. Nicoll. 



[I did not " cast doubt " upon the record, but stated that it 

 could not be accepted without evidence of identification. 

 This must especially be insisted upon in records published 

 in the Migration Reports, because the authority for the records 

 is unfortunately not given ; but in all cases of rare birds seen, 

 evidence of identification is most desirable. — H.F.W.] 



