800 COLYBIBID.E. 



one, the stomach of which did not contain a portion of fea- 

 thers which appeared to have been taken from the white 

 under surface of their own bodies. The same thing has been 

 noticed and recorded by others in the Magazine of Natural 

 History.* This habit of swallowing feathers alone appears 

 to be peculiar to the Grebes only, but from fish bones being 

 occasionally found mixed up with the feathers, there is cause 

 to suspect these birds reproduce, at will, from the stomach, 

 the more indigestible parts of their last meal as hawks, owls, 

 shrikes, and some other birds are known to do. 



The Great-crested Grebe is rather rare in some parts of 

 the south of England, but has been seen occasionally in 

 Devon and Cornwall ; Mr. Dillwyn has noticed it in Glamor- 

 ganshire ; and Mr. Eyton in Shropshire and North Wales. 

 Mr. Thompson says it is resident in Ireland on the larger 

 lakes ; Mr. Heysham has recorded the capture of both old 

 and young in Cumberland ; and Mr. Macgilli\Tay, now of 

 Aberdeen, in his recently published Manual of the Water- 

 Birds of Great Britain and Ireland, says it is more numerous 

 in Scotland during winter than summer. 



Of the Grebes in Scandinavia, Mr. Dann sends me word, 

 that, with the exception of the Red-necked species, next to 

 be described, they are confined to the south of Sweden. In 

 Norway they only appear as stragglers, and then generally 

 on or near the coast. M. Nilsson, the Swedish naturalist, 

 says the Great-crested Grebe breeds in their lakes ; it is 

 found on some of the large reeded lakes of Russia and 

 Siberia ; it is abundant in Germany, Holland, and France ; is 

 found also at Tangiers, Smyrna, and the Caucasus. 



The under surface of the body of this bird being of a 

 delicate silvery whiteness, and of a shining silky appearance, 

 one of the names of this well known bird is that of Satin 

 Grebe ; and skins, from the beauty of their appearance, arc 



* Volume vi, page 519, and vol. ix, pp. 202 and 326. 



