GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 123 



delicate and shining silky white, from which, as before men- 

 tioned, this species is sometimes called the Satin Grebe ;■ 

 sides beneath the wing and the flanks pale chestnut-brown ; 

 legs and toes dark green on the outer flat surface, lighter 

 pale yellowish-green on the inner surface. The whole length 

 is from twenty-one to twenty-two inches. From the carpal 

 joint to the end of the longest feathers eight inches. The 

 crest is borne constantly throughout the year. 



Females are not quite so large in size; the crest is also a 

 little smaller, and the general colours of the plumage less 

 pure. 



Young birds in their first winter, and during part of their 

 second year, have but small crests, and little or no reddish- 

 chestnut colour. For some time after they are hatched the 

 young chicks have their bills mottled black and white : the 

 head and neck ornamented with long dark stripes on a 

 ground-colour of dull greyish-white ; the upper surface of 

 the body dark brown, with longitudinal stripes of light 

 brown ; the whole under surface white. A young bird of 

 this species is figured below. 





