PoDicKPs. BIRDS. PALMIPIDES. 131 



orange. Above and below the e^'e, a naked space of black skin. Irides grey. 

 Tail short, of 1(j feathers. Female similar — Nest in deserted rabbit-holes, or 

 burrows which the bird forms. Egg 1, white. Young have the markings of 



the bill less distinct Mr Pennant remarks, " The size of the bills of these 



birds varies ; those of Priestholme Isle are one inch and three quarters long ; 

 and the base of the upper mandible one inch broad ; but, in the birds from the 

 Isle of Man, these proportions are much less." Have we two species ? 



Gen. XCIII. PODICEPS. Grebe.— Bill straight, produced, 

 firm, pointed. Nostrils pervious. No tail. Plumage of 

 the belly close, with a silvery gloss. 



206. P. cristatus. Crested Grebe. — Bill longer than the 

 head; from the nostrils to the tip 17 or 18 lines ; red, white at 

 the tip. 



Colymbus major. Will Orn. 256 — Col. crist., Linn. Syst. i. 222 — Tippet 



and Great Crested Grebes, Penn. Brit. Zool- ii. 496 P. crist., Temm. 



Orn. ii. 717 — ^, Greater Loon, Arsfoot, Gargoose, Gaunt; FF, 

 Gwyach — Breeds in England. 

 Length 21, breadth 30 inches; weight 24 pounds. Bill 2\ inches. Feet 

 black, yellowish on the inside. Irides and lores crimson. Face white. Crown, 

 nape, and ear-crests glossy black, the latter tinged with brown. Beneath 

 white. Above dusky brown. Primaries dusky ; secondaries white, except 

 the two first, which are dusky. Female less, with a smaller crest, and duller 



colours Nest in marshes, of aquatic plants, and made so as to float. Eggs 



4, white, of the size of those of a pigeon. Voung without the crest, the tace 

 with zig-zag lines of a dusky colour. In this state, it is the Col. urinator of 

 Linnaeus — This species breeds in Shropshire and Lincolnshire. It seems to 

 be stationary even in Zetland. One which I examined, 13th January 1809, 

 had the stomach full of gammari. 



207. P. rubricollis. (Latham.) Red-necked Grebe. — Bill 

 the length of the head; from the nostrils to the tip 11 lines; 

 yellow at the base ; tip black. 



Bewick's Brit. Birds, ii. 152 — Temm. Orn. ii. 720. A winter visitant. 

 Length 1 7 inches ; weight 23 ounces. Bill 2 inches long. Legs dusky, 

 yellowish on the inside. Irides hazel. Front, crown, nape, and hind-neck, 

 black ; cheeks and throat grey ; fore-neck and breast reddish-chesnut ; belly 

 white, the sides with dusky spots ; back and wings black ; the secondaries and 

 base of the wing white. Nape with a short crest. Female similar — Nest like 

 the preceding. Young with the throat and cheeks white ; the fore-neck grey ; 



the sides and hmd-neck dusky This species, which occurs both in England 



and Scotland, seems to have been met with, hitherto, only in the winter sea- 

 son. Pennant was inclined to consider it as a variety of the Crested Grebe- 



208. P. cornutus. Homed Grebe. — Bill stout, shorter than 

 the head, compressed throughout ; from the nostrils to the tip 

 6 or 7 hnes. Iris double. 



Col. major cristatus et cornutus, Will. Orn. 257 — Sclavonian Grebe, 



Mont. Orn. Diet. Suppt. — P. corn. Temm. Orn. ii. 721. — Resident and 



common. 



Length 14, breadth 25 inches. Bill black, point red, and the outline slope* 



regularly. Feet black, grev within. Irides cnmson, bordered and shaded with 



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