PODICIPES FLUVIATILIS 396 



Canon Tristram found this Grebe breeding on Lake Halloula in 

 Algeria, "in societies more densely crowded than any rookery"; the 

 nests being " raised on artificial islets, frequently almost touching 

 each other, and sometimes piled on stout foundations, rising from 

 more than a yard under water." The species appears often to nest 

 in the company of other marsh-breeding birds, and von Homeyer 

 found many of its nests on Lake Halloula amongst those of the 

 Whiskered Tern. Tbe eggs are usually four or five in number, and of 

 a yellowish-white colour when freshly laid, though turning brownish 

 with stains and soiling ; they measure about 40 X 29 mm. On 

 leaving its nest the parent bird is in the habit of covering the eggs 

 with leaves or other plant material that may be near at hand. 



PODICIPES FLUYIATILIS (Tunstall). 



LITTLE GEEBE. 



Colymbus fluviatilis, Tunst. Om. Brit. p. 3 (1771). 



Podiceps minov, Malherbc, Cat. Eais. d'Ois. Alg. p. 22 (1816); Koeniy, 



J. f. 0. 1888, p. 297 ; id. J. f. 0. 1893, p. 103. 

 Tachybaptus minor, Loche, Expl. Sci. Alg. Ois. ii, p. 225 (1867). 

 Podicipes flusiatilis, Saunders, Man. Brit. Birds, p. 709 (1889) ; Ogilvic- 



Grant, Cat. Birds Brit. Mus. xxvi, p. 507. 

 Podiceps fluYiatilis, Erlangcr, J. f. 0. 1900, p. 78. 



DescrijJtion. — Adult male, winter, from Tunis, North Tunisia. 



Upper-parts generally dull brown, darker on the wings ; chin dull white ; 

 throat, fore-neck and breast pale rufous-brown ; abdomen silvery-white, 

 tinged with grey on the flanks ; crissuni and under tail-coverts dark grey. 



Iris hazel; bill dark brown ; feet dark green. 



Total length 8-50 inches, wing 3-65, culmen -75, tarsus 1-40. 



Adult female similar to tbe male, but slightly smaller. 



In summer the plumage is much darker and clearer generally, the crown, 

 nape, hind-neck, chin and lores being blackish-brown, and the sides of the 

 head and neck, as well as the entire throat, rich chestnut-red. 



The Little Grebe, or Dabchick, as it is commonly called in England, 

 is resident and not unconunon in the north of Tunisia, and is also to 

 be met with occasionally in tbe south of the Eegency. It may be 

 found throughout the year on most of the reed-fringed pools and 



