THE GREBES 



[ORDER: Colymbiformes. SUBORDER: Podicipedes. FAMILY: Podicipedidce] 

 PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 



[F. C. R. JOURDAIN. W. P. PYCRAFT. A. L. THOMSON] 



GREAT CRESTED-GREBE [Coltfmbus cristdtus Linnams ; Podicipes 

 cristdtus (Linnaeus). Tippet-grebe, diver, great-diver ; Tommy Allen (Nor- 

 thumberland) ; loon (Norfolk) ; gaunt (Lines.) ; mulrooken (Ireland). 

 French, grbe huppe ; German, grosser Lappentaucher ; Italian, svasso 

 maggiore]. 



1. Description. The great crested-grebe may always be distinguished by 

 the broad bands of white which mark the outspread wing ; it further differs from 

 all our other native Grebes in its relatively longer beak and greatly superior size. 

 The sexes are alike, and there are striking seasonal changes of coloration. (PI. 175.) 

 Length 21 in. [533 mm.]. The upper parts are of a dark brown, the under parts 

 white with a peculiar satin-like sheen. In the nuptial dress two tufts, or "ears," of 

 erectile feathers spring from the hinder region of the crown, and the head is sur- 

 rounded by a large erectile frill, resembling an Elizabethan ruff, of a rich chesnut, 

 shading into dark chesnut-brown at the periphery. The marginal wing-coverts 

 and secondaries are white, as also are the parapteral feathers, so that the outspread 

 wing is marked by large and conspicuous areas of white. The beak is ruddy, the 

 iris crimson, and the legs and toes light olive-green. The "ears" and "ruff" are 

 lost at the autumn moult. The juvenile dress resembles that of the adult in winter, 

 but the head and neck are more or less distinctly striped longitudinally with dark 

 ash-brown. The iris is lemon-yellow. The young in down have the upper parts 

 dark brown and longitudinally striped with dull white. On the crown of the 

 head is a heart-shaped patch of bare, vermilion-coloured skui. [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. There has been a very decided increase in the numbers 

 and breeding range of this species of late years, and now it nests on most large sheets 



VOL. IV. 3 P 



7463 1 8 



