RED-NECKED GREBE. 125 



examined or beard of no less than thirty- five examples, most 

 of which were killed on the east coast. Mr. Hancock says 

 that it generally appears in Northumberland and Durham in 

 severe weather ; he has, however, one in summer plumage 

 which was taken alive on Cullercoat sands ; and Mr. C. M. 

 Adamson shot one at Holy Island in mature plumage, with 

 a few red feathers on the neck and breast, on the 8th of 

 October, 1851. This latter bird had its gizzard full of 

 feathers, and a quantity of whole shrimps in its gullet. 

 Examples have been obtained at irregular intervals in Essex, 

 Kent, Sussex, Hampshire, Dorsetshire, and Devonshire ; but 

 in Cornwall, according to Mr. Kodd, it is not uncommon in 

 winter, and specimens in nearly adult plumage are some- 

 times obtained in spring. 



Along the east coast of Scotland Mr. R. Gray says that 

 the Red-necked Grebe is tolerably frequent, but less so on 

 the west coast; leaving in April and returning in autumn. 

 In the Orkneys it is not uncommon, but in Shetland it 

 appears to be rare. In Ireland it is stated by Thompson 

 to be the rarest of the Grebes, and he only mentions four 

 examples, killed at different times, in the counties of Down, 

 Antrim, Dublin, Wexford, and Cork. 



The Red-necked Grebe has never been known to nest in 

 this country, but it breeds abundantly on some of the 

 waters of Denmark, Holstein, and Northern Germany ; and 

 although rare in the northern districts of Norway, it is resi- 

 dent in the southern portions of that country. The Author 

 was favoured by the late Mr. Dann with the following notes 

 from his observations of its habits in Sweden : — " The Red- 

 necked Grebe is common during the breeding-season on 

 many of the shallow reedy lakes at the head of the Bothnian 

 Gulf, particularly between Pitea and Lulea. They seem to 

 be confined to the vicinity of the coast of the Baltic. I 

 have never met with them anywhere in the interior of the 

 country, except in Scona, and in the southern provinces of 

 Sweden, although the whole of Northern Scandinavia abounds 

 with lakes. The character of those lakes, where alone I 

 have seen and procured specimens of the Red-necked Grebe, 



