87 



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 DABOHI.OK. 



PODICEPS MOTOR, Lath. 



The Little Grebe, the smallest of the Grebe tribe, 

 is extensively distributed on the Continent of 

 Europe, 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 

 eggs 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. 



