708 PODICIPID/E. 



brownish black or black seasonally, continued on to the back, and coalescing 

 with the dusky brown of the back ; in some specimens the entire head, back 

 of the neck, back, scapulars and wing coverts are dusky brown, with a greenish 

 lustre ; lesser wing coverts white ; primaries dusky brown; secondaries white; 

 tertials like the back ; lores, sides of the face and cheeks fulvous white ; neck 

 in front, breast and entire lower parts satin white ; sides of the breast and flanks 

 with a rufescent tinge ; nude space between bill and eye red or dusky seasonally ; 

 collar chestnut above, edged below with black ; bill brown above, reddish on 

 the sides and below, the tip white ; irides crimson red. 



Length. 22 to 22'5 inches ; wing 7-25 to 7-5 ; bill at front 2-37 ; tarsus 2. 



Hab. Sind, Beloochistan, Persia, Punjab, N.-W. Provinces, Oudh, Bengal, 

 Guzerat, Kutch and Kattiawar. Affects the sea-coast, also inland lakes, rivers, 

 creeks and ponds, which are covered with reeds and rushes ; although their 

 wings are short, they fly well, but resort exclusively to diving, in which they 

 are adepts. They feed on fry of fish, Crustacea, tadpoles and seeds of aquatic 

 plants. The skin of the breast is an article of commerce as a substitute for 

 fur. 



1410. PodicepS nigriCOllis (Sund.), Edw. B. pi. 96, p. 2 ; Naum. 



Vogt. t. 246; Gould, B. Europe, pi. 391 ; Hume, Sir. F. i. pp. 142, 266; 

 Murray, Hdbk., Zool., Sfc., Sind, p. 241 ; id., Vert. Zool. Sind, p. 311. The 

 BLACK-NECKED GREBE. 



"Male. Whole of the top of the head, together with the rest of the upper 

 part, the chin, throat, and neck all round blackish brown, very glossy on the 

 head ; back and wings duller and browner on the neck all round ; the chin 

 and throat almost quite black, but a good deal speckled with white ; this 

 white speckling extending as a stripe at the sides of the neck behind the ear 

 coverts ; two short thick tufts on either side of the occiput, which, though 

 scarcely noticeable in the dried skin, are erected at pleasure in the live bird ; 

 behind the eye for about 1*4 inches, a broad streak of orange and reddish 

 yellow silky glistening feathers. The inner web of the sixth primary, and 

 almost the whole of the subsequent primaries and secondaries, pure white ; 

 tertiaries and wing coverts unicolorous with the back. The whole breast, 

 abdomen and vent satin white, a little tinged with greyish brown about the 

 vent ; tail unicolorous with the back, and on either side of it, and of the tail 

 coverts a good deal of white appears ; sides and flanks mottled with blackish 

 brown, with traces of a rufous or orange striation. 



" In full breeding plumage the sides and flanks are very strongly streaked 

 with orange red, and the parts indicated as speckled with white are entirely 

 black ; in the winter plumage the colours are duller ; the front of the neck is 

 an earthy brown ; and the whole of those portions, indicated as speckled with 

 white are pure white ; the orange red tuft behind the eye is entirely wanting." 

 (Hume, Sir. F. ii. p. 267.) 



