356 OUTDOOR LIFE IN ENGLAND 



are visitors from autumn to spring. The plumage 

 of all five varieties is different in summer and 

 winter. 



The great crested grebe is considerably the 

 largest of the family, measuring twenty-two inches 

 in length. It frequents the large fresh- water lakes 

 of England and Ireland, being only very occasion- 

 ally met with in Scotland. It is a beautiful bird, 

 though of somewhat peculiar appearance by reason 

 of its crest and the tippet which surrounds its face. 

 In its summer plumage the crown and the crest 

 are dark brown ; the cheeks white ; the tippet 

 chestnut-coloured, with a black margin ; the upper 

 parts are dark brown ; the under parts white and 

 lustrous, like satin. In winter the crest and tippet 

 are scarcely visible. 



The red-necked grebe cannot be said to be 

 common in any part of Britain. Breeding in 

 the North of Germany and Denmark, those birds 

 which visit us migrate to us from thence during 

 the months which intervene between the autumn 

 and the spring. It is said to be most frequently 

 noticed on the East coast of Great Britain, and 

 also in Cornwall. Like the rest of the grebes, it 

 is a handsome and graceful bird when swimming. 

 The crown, nape, and back part of the neck are 

 black ; the chin and throat gray ; the front portion 

 of the neck chestnut-red ; the upper parts brown, 

 the under parts of the soft, shining white which is 

 characteristic of all the grebes. A white streak 

 divides the gray colour on the cheeks from the 



