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tain, more particularly during winter, when, being 
found without its crest, it has also been named the 
Tippet Grebe. When it breeds it forms a large 
nest, which is concealed among the flags and reeds 
growing in the water, upon which it floats. The 
female lays four or five eggs, two inches and a 
quarter in length, and one inch and a half in 
breadth. They are of a greenish white, but are 
generally much soiled with the damp herbage. 
GREBE, LITTLE, OR DABCHICK. 
PopicErs Minor, Lath. 
The Little Grebe, the smallest of the Grebe tribe, 
is extensively distributed on the Continent of 
Kurope, but has not been met within America. It 
is a true aquatic, for it seldom quits the water, and 
ventures rarely beyond the sedgy margins of the 
lake where it has taken up its abode. It seldom 
goes out to sea, but confines itself to the lakes and 
rivers, and is an excellent diver. The nest is com- 
posed of a vast quantity of grass and water plants 
placed in the water, so that the female hatches her 
egos amidst the continual wet, the warmth of her 
body causing fermentation of the herbage and as- 
sisting incubation. The eggs, from four to six in 
number, are of a yellowish dull white colour, gener- 
ally much stained by the moisture of the nest. 
