PODICEPS* 311 



Podiceps. — Latham, 



Bill straight, moderately stout ; nostrils oblong, lateral, in a short 

 groove ; wings short ; tarsus scutellate ; hallux bordered by a web. 



Podiceps cristatUS, Lin. ; P. E. 400, 944 ; Gould. B. Eur. pi. 

 388; And. B. Amer. vii. pi. 479; Jerd. B. Ind. iii. p. 821 ; Str. F. 

 i. 142, 265 ; iv. 31, 203; Murray, Hdhk., Zool., S>x., Sind, p. 240.— The 

 Ceested Grebe. 



Head with a long, dark brown or black, silky, erectile crest, stand- 

 ing out behind, divided in two ; forehead slightly paler ; nape and neck 

 behind brownish black or black seasonally, continued on to the back, 

 and coalescing with the dusky brown of the back ; in some specimens 

 the entire head, back of the neck, back, scapulars and wing-coverts are 

 dusky brown, with a greenish lustre ; lesser wing-coverts white ; pri- 

 maries dusky brown ; secondaries white ; tertials like the back ; lores, 

 sides of the face and cheeks fulvous white ; neck in front, breast, and 

 entire lower parts satin white ; sides of the breast and flanks with a 

 rufescent tinge ; nude space between bill and eye red or dusky 

 seasonally ; collar chestnut above, edged below with black ; bill brown 

 above, reddish on the sides and below, the tip white; irides crimson red. 



Length.— 22 to 22-5 inches, wing 7-25 to 7-5, bill at front 2-37, 

 tarsus 2. 



Hah. — Sind, Beloochistan, Persia, Punjab, N. W. Provinces, Oudh, 

 Bengal, Guzerat, Kutch and Kattiawar. Affects the sea coast, also inland 

 lakes, rivers, creeks and ponds, which are covered with reeds and rushes ; 

 although their wings are short they fly well, but resort exclusively to 

 diving, in which they are adepts. They feed on fry of fish, Crustacea, 

 tadpoles and seeds of aquatic plants. The skin of the breast is an 

 article of commerce as a substitute for fur. 



Podiceps nigricollis, Sund.; Edw. B. pi. QQ, 2; Naum. Vogt. L 

 246; Gould. B. Europe, pi. 391 ; Str. F. i. 142, 266; Murray, Edbh, 

 Zool., Sfc, Sind, p. 241. — The Black-necked Gkebe. 



" Male. — Whole of the top of the head, together with the rest of the 

 upper part, the chin, throat, and neck all round, blackish brown, very 

 glossy on the head ; back and wings duller and browner on the neck 

 all round ; the chin and throat almost quite black, but a good deal 

 speckled with white ; this white speckling extending as a stripe at the 

 sides of the neck behind the ear-coverts ; two short thick tufts on either 

 side of the occiput, which, though scarcely noticeable in the dried skin, 

 are erected at pleasure in the live bird ; behind the eye for about 1-4 

 inches, a broad streak of orange and reddish yellow, silky glistening 

 feathers. The inner web of the sixth primary, and almost the whole 

 of the subsequent primaries and secondaries, pure white ; tertiaries and 

 wing-coverts unicolorous with the back. The whole breast, abdomen 

 and vent satin white, a little tinged with greyish brown about the vent; 

 tail unicolorous with the back, and on either side of it, and of the tail- 

 coverts a good deal of white appears ; sides and flanks mottled with 

 blackish brown, with traces of a rufous or orange striation. 



