GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 117 



PYGOPODES. PODICIPEDID^. 



PoDiCEPS CRiSTATus (Liiiiiaeus*). 



THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 



Podiceps cristatus. 



PoDiCEPS, Lathami.—BiM of moderate length, straight, hard, slightly com- 

 pressed, pointed, forming an elongated cone. Nostrils lateral, concave, oblong, 

 open in front,' and perforate, closed behind by a membrane. Legs and feet 

 long, attached behind the centre of gravity ; tarsi very much compressed ; 

 three toes in front, one behind ; anterior toes very much flattened, united at 

 the base, surrounded by a lobated membrane ; hind toe also flattened, articu- 

 lated on the inner surface of the tarsus ; claws large, flat. No true tail. Wings 

 short, first three primaries nearly equal in length, and the longest in the wing. 



The Grebes acd Dabcliicks are diving birds wliich fre- 

 quent fresh water during a considerable portion of the year. 

 Their wings are short and small, the thighs and legs being 

 placed so far behind the centre of gravity, and so closely 

 attached to the posterior part of their body, that they sit 

 upright on the whole length of the tarsus, and their walk 

 is constrained. When the birds are on land they are 

 generally close to the edge of the water, into which, if 



* Cohjmbm crhfatus, Linnaeus, Syst. Nat. Ed. 12, i. p. 222 (1766). 

 t Gen. Synops. Suppl. p. 294 (1787). 



