512 BIRDS OF AUSTRALIA. 



the outer edge and rich chestnut in the centre, gradually 

 passing into bufFy white on the face ; upper surface and 

 wings dark brown ; scapularies and secondaries pure white ; 

 all the under surface silvery white, stained with brown and 

 chestnut on the flanks ; irides red ; bill dark horn-colour ; 

 upper surface of the tarsi and toes dark olive-green, under 

 surface pale yellow. 



Total length 24 inches ; bill 2f ; wing 7i ; tarsi 2\. 



Sp. 6QQ. PODICEPS NESTOR, Gou/d. 



HoARY-HEADED GrEBE. 



Podiceps poliocephalus, Jard. and Selb. 111. Orn., vol. i. pi. 13. 

 Podiceps nestor, Gould in Proc. of Zool. Soc, part iv. p. 145. 

 Wy-oo-da, Aborigines of the lowland districts of Western Australia. 

 Dab-chick, Colonists of Swan River. 

 Poliocephalus nestor, Bonap. Compt. Rend, do I'Acad. Sci., tom.xli. 



Podiceps poliocephalus, Gould, Birds of Australia, fol., vol. vii. 

 pi. 82. 



This species of Grebe is very abundantly dispersed over the 

 inland waters of Tasmania, and is particularly common on the 

 upper part of the river Derwent, where it may be seen during 

 the winter season in flocks or " mobs " of from ten to thirty 

 together, which separate into pairs on the approach of sum- 

 mer ; I have also received it from Swan River, and observed it 

 personally in the lagoons of New South Wales ; its distribu- 

 tion therefore over all the southern portion of Australia may 

 be said to be general. Its powers of diving, notwithstanding 

 its bushy head, are quite equal to those of the other members 

 of the genus, and its food and general economy are as a matter 

 of course strictly similar. Like the Podiceps gularis, it con- 

 structs a flat nest of aquatic plants, which may be seen float- 

 ing on the central portions of the lagoons, not unfrequently 

 within a few yards of the land. The eggs are of a dirty white 

 colour, and four or five in number. J 



