284 THE BIRDS OF NORTHAMPTONSHIRE 



as the month of May. This bird breeds in Iceland, 

 the northern portions of Norway, Sweden, and 

 Russia, and also in Denmark, and migrates to our 

 coasts in the autumn. 



226. EARED GREBE. 



Podiceps nigricolUs. 



A pair of this species, killed upon Uaventry 

 Reservoir in 1869, and most courteously presented to 

 me in November 1893 by Mr. E. C. Burton, are the only 

 specimens of the Eared Grebe that have occurred in 

 our county to my knowledge. Many birds have been 

 reported to me by various county correspondents as 

 " Eared Grebes," but have, on investigation, all 

 proved to be Great Crested Grebes. Mr. Burton 

 could not inform me as to the time of year when 

 his birds were obtained, but from the development 

 of their ear-tufts I should guess that it cannot have 

 been earlier than April. The present species is the 

 rarest of our British Grebes ; it is intermediate in 

 size between the subject of my last article and the 

 Little Grebe or Dabchick, and may always be 

 distinguished when in hand by the upward bend 

 of its bill. The Eared Grebe is very abundant in 

 Andalucia, where it breeds, and I have found it more 

 or less commonly about the coasts and lagoons of all 

 the Mediterranean districts that I have visited. I 

 have only once met with it in British waters, — in 

 Weymouth Bay, in April 1876, when my yachting 

 companion. Lord Clifton, killed a very fine male 

 from one of our boats after a long chase ; this 

 bird was alone. In all its habits this Grebe so 

 closely resembles our well-known Dabchick, that it 



