318 C0LY3IBID,E. 



caying vegetable matter, and tlie soil from the feet of the 

 bird ; by hatching time they are frequently of a dirty clay- 

 brown. The female is very careful of her eggs, and seldom 

 leaves them without covering them over with some of the 

 vegetable substances by which she is surrounded, and I quite 

 agree with Mr. Selby, that the object in thus covering the 

 eggs is concealment, and not for the purpose of preserving 

 temperature during incubation. The young when first hatch- 

 ed are dark brown on the head, neck, and upper surface, 

 streaked longitudinally with light yellowish-brown on the 

 neck and back, the under surface of the body silvery-white. 

 They take to the water very soon, swimming about with the 

 parents in pursuit of aquatic insects and other food ; or 

 diving to avoid danger with all the apparent facility and con- 

 fidence that usually attend long practice. 



The Little Grebe is common and resident in Ireland, and 

 too universally distributed in localities suited to its habits in 

 England, to render particular enumeration necessary. In 

 Scotland this small species is not considered to be so plenti- 

 ful as with us in the south. Mr. Selby mentions that it 

 Avas met with occasionally upon the smaller lochs of Suther- 

 landshire during the natural-history excursion through that 

 county in the summer of 1834. It is found also in Orkney 

 and in Shetland. 



M. Nilsson considers the Little Grebe to be rather rare in 

 Sweden ; it is found in some other parts of the north of 

 Europe, and in Germany, but it is not common, M. Tem- 

 minck says, either in Holland or France. It is said by M. 

 Schinz to be abundant on the ponds and lakes of Switzerland 

 all the year ; it is found also in Provence and in Italy. 



Our Little Grebe is included in catalogues of the birds of 

 some parts of India ; but, according to M. Temminck, the 

 small species found in Africa and at the Philippine Islands is 

 not identical with the Podiceps minor of European authors ; 

 nor is this species found in North America. 



