GREBEs. 41 
provided with wide lateral lobes which are united with one another at 
the base. The tail is inconspicuous, being a mere tuft of downy plumes. 
As in the Divers, the plumage of the Grebes is much handsomer during 
the breeding-season than it is in winter, and they are familiarly known 
on account of the muffs and trimmings for dresses which are made 
from their beautiful silvery-white breasts. 
The Grebes are a nearly cosmopolitan family, though chiefly found in 
the temperate regions of both Hemispheres. About twenty-five species 
are known, all expert divers, but unlike some of the Auks and the 
Penguins, which use their wings in diving, Grebes propel themselves 
through the water by their curiously lobed toes alone. 
In winter they migrate from the colder parts and are then often to be 
found at the sea, but they breed exclusively on fresh water, attaching 
their floating nest of weeds to any convenient patch of reeds. ‘The eggs, 
which are from three to six in number, are bluish-white when first laid 
but soon become stained with brown. Five species occur in the British 
Isles, the Great Crested Grebe (Podicipes cristatus) (281) and the Dab- 
chick (P. fluviatilis) (219) being residents, while the Red-necked (286), 
Eared or Slavonian (284), and Black-necked Grebes (285) are autumn- 
and winter-visitors. The latter also occasionally appears in spring and 
summer, and is believed to have bred in Great Britain. The most re- 
markable is the large Scuth American species (P. micropterum), which 
is found on Lake Titicaca in Peru, 12,645 ft. altitude, and lacks the 
power of flight. 
Order VII. COLYMBIFORMES. 
Family Cotymsip&. Divers. 
The Divers, or Loons as they are also called, present precisely similar 
modifications of the skeleton to those found in the Grebes. Indeed, the 
two orders are very generally regarded as one. Like the Grebes, they 
have a distinct breeding-plumage which differs conspicuously from that 
worn during the remainder of the year. The front toes are fully 
webbed, and the tail-feathers, though small, are normal. ‘The large 
olive- or reddish-brown eggs spotted with black and grey are always two 
in number, and laid in a slight depression of the ground close to the 
water’s edge. Though essentially formed for swimming and diving, 
when once on the wing they can also fly with great rapidity, but on land 
their movements are awkward and clumsy. 
Of the five species known to inhabit the Arctic and sub-Arctic 
portions of the Northern Hemisphere, four visit Great Britain, two, 
the Red-throated (290) and Black-throated Divers (291), nesting within 
our limits, and two, the Great Northern (293) and the White-billed 
Divers (292), visiting our shores in winter, the latter very rarely. 
In autumn they change their summer-plumage for a more sober garb, 
[Case 21.] 
