RED-NECKED GREBE. 305 



base of the bill is mostly yellow ; this species is also con- 

 sidered to be more decidedly marine in its habits. Like the 

 other Grebes it is an expert diver, and very difficult to obtain 

 when at sea, or in other extensive waters where there is ample 

 space to exercise its powers. It feeds on small fish and 

 aquatic insects. The stomach of one examined by Montagu 

 was found to be distended with its own feathers and small 

 seeds. I am not aware of any record of the Red-necked 

 Grebe breeding in this country. The nest is described as 

 placed among aquatic herbage and reeds, being built of 

 similar decayed materials ; an egg, which I obtained from 

 Hamburgh, is of a dull white colour tinged with green ; two 

 inches in length, by one inch and four lines in breadth. 



Mr. W. Thompson mentions that the Red-necked Grebe 

 has been taken at Belfast, and in different parts of Ireland. 

 It has been obtained in Cornwall, Devonshire, and Dorset- 

 shire. It has been killed more than once in East Kent ; 

 and Mr. Joseph Clarke sent me notice of one killed recently 

 in Essex, near Saffron Walden, which is now preserved in 

 the Museum there. Both old and young have been killed 

 in the fens of Cambridgeshire, and on the broads of Norfolk, 

 but only in winter. Mr. Selby says it is not uncommon in 

 winter on the coasts of Northumberland and Durham ; and 

 Mr. Macgillivray mentions having obtained it in the Frith 

 of Forth. 



M. Temminck states that this species is nowhere more 

 abundant than in Holstein. It breeds on the lakes of 

 Sweden ; and I have been favoured by Mr. Dann with the 

 followinff notes from his own observations of its habits still 

 farther north in that direction. " The Red-necked Grebe is 

 common during the breeding-season on many of the shallow 

 reedy lakes at the head of the Bothnian Gulf, particularly 

 between Pitea and Lulea. They seem to be confined to 

 the vicinity of the coast of the Baltic. I have never met 



VOL. III. X 



