PODICIPID.^— GREBES. 



?75 



Basin in Wanstead Park. I watched it repeatedly with a g^ood telescope. It was 

 in fine plumage " {c.f. 40. i. 230). Early in Nov>, 1888, one was killed near Man- 

 ningtree (Laver). iVIr, Hope describes it as common in Essex, especially on 

 the Blackwater. A specimen taken alive near the Hospital at Colchester in_i879, 

 is preserved in the Bree Collection. 



Great Crested Grebe : Podiceps cristatus. Locally, " Loon." 

 An uncommon visitor, chiefly to our coast, from autumn to spring. 



I know of only one instance of its having bred in the county. 

 King says (20), " A fine specimen 



in winter plumage was brought to £l 



me last spring, [1838] which had 



been shot on our river." One was 



shot on the river at Chelmsford in 



the autumn of 1879. Mr. Lister 



observed a female " on the Wan 



stead Basin for several days in the 



spring of 1883 " (47. 97). Mi 



Hope, who has several Essex speci 



mens, describes it as common on the 



Blackwater ; and it is " not rare at 



Mersea in winter " (Laver). Mr. 



F. Spalding saw a fine male, recently 



killed, on a stall in Colchester Mar- 

 ket on Mar. 3, 1888. At Harwich, 



Mr. Kerry describes it as " rather rare 



on-the-Naze during 18 



GREAT CRESTED GREBE, l/l2. 



He adds that a pair nested near Walton- 

 This is the only time I ever heard of it breeding in 

 the county, and the Rev. J. C. Atkinson informs me that he never heard of a case 

 •of its breeding on the Essex Marshes, even in his early days. Mr. J. F. T. Wise- 

 man informs me that he never knew it breed in the Paglesham district. 



Sclavonian Grebe : Podiceps aiiritus. 



An uncommon winter visitor, chiefly to the coast, from autumn to 

 spring. 



In the Collection at Audley End is an example shot there in 1838 (24). One 

 was shot near Maldon on Jan. 12th, 1876 (29. Jan. 22). In Nov., 1880, a speci- 

 men was taken at Southend (Travis — 44. i. Ixiii.). Mr. Hope, who has one killed 

 at Maldon in Feb., 1874, describes it as common in Essex, especially on the Black- 

 water. 



Eared Grebe : Podiceps nigricoUis. 

 An uncommon winter visitor. 



Graves says (7. iii.) that the figure he gives "was executed from a fine male 

 bird, which, with the female, was shot on the coast of Essex in March." Mr. 

 Clarke mentions one (24), shot at Audley End on Jan 26, 1838. Dr. Bree 

 says (29. Apr. nth, 1874) : "It is frequently killed in winter on the Essex 

 coast." One was shot at Walton-on-the-Naze on Feb. 2nd, 1875 (29. Feb. 13). 

 In 1875 two specimens were shot on the Stour at Harwich on Dec. 3rd and 

 loth respectively (Kerry — 34. 4827). A young male in poor condition was taken 

 on the lake in Debden Park after an hour's chase on Oct. 15th, 1881, after a very 



T 2 



