EARED GREBE. 



PYGOPODES. 



133 

 PODICIPEDIDjE. 



PoDiCEPS NiGRicoLLis, C. L. Brehm.* 

 THE EARED GREBE. 



Podiceps auritus. 



The Eared Grebe is the rarest of the five species of 

 Grebes found in the British Islands ; and during the many 

 years that Montagu devoted attention to ornithology he 

 only obtained one specimen. It is a southern species, which 

 is distinguished from the Sclavonian Grebe by being a little 

 smaller in size ; in having the bill bent slightly upwards, 

 the curve being most conspicuous in the lower mandible; 

 and in the part between the base of the bill and the eye 

 never carrying any ferruginous feathers at any age or season. 

 The reddish, or golden-yellow feathers, when present, arise 

 behind the eye, covering the orifice of the ears. Examples 

 * Handb. Naturg. Yog. Deutschlands, p. 963 (1831). 



