PRELIMINARY CLASSIFIED NOTES 409 



4. Nest and Eggs. Does not breed in the British Isles. [F. c. R. J.] 



5. Food. Aquatic insects and their larvae, Crustacea, small fish, tadpoles, 

 and aquatic vegetation, [w. P. p.] 



SLAVONIAN-GREBE [Colfimbm auritus Linnaeus; Podicipes auritus 

 (Linnaeus). Horned-grebe (Devon). French, gribe cornu ; German, ge- 

 hornter Lappentaucher ; Italian, svasso forestiero}. 



I. Description. Apart from considerations of size, the Slavonian is dis- 

 tinguished from the rednecked-grebe in having the marginal coverts of the wing 

 brown, and from the eared-grebe in having the three outer secondaries ash-coloured, 

 the rest white. The sexes are alike, and there is a striking seasonal change of 

 coloration. (PI. 176.) Length 13 in. [342 mm.]. The upper parts are of 

 a very dark brown, the head and throat are black, the feathers of the latter 

 region and the hinder region of the head being conspicuously elongated, and form a 

 velvety black " ruff," which is completed by elongated tufts arising on each side 

 of the head above the eye, and extending backwards to form a pair of heavy, rich 

 chesnut-coloured tufts. The fore-neck and flanks are also chesnut, but redder 

 than the tufts. The under parts are of a satin-like white, with dusky markings on 

 the abdomen. The beak is black with a touch of bluish grey and rose at the base, 

 and bluish grey at the tip. Iris carmine, but the pupil surrounded by a white ring. 

 After the autumn moult the ornamental plumes are wanting, the top of the head and 

 hind-neck being then of a greyish black, the throat and fore-neck white, save hi the 

 area which is red in summer : this is now of a dusky hue. The flanks are of a dark 

 ash colour. The rest of the under parts are white with a satin-like sheen. The 

 juvenile dress resembles the adult in whiter, but has the back of the head and 

 neck of a sooty brown, and more or less distinct longitudinal streaks of sooty brown, 

 on the sides of the head. The downy young have the upper parts dark brown 

 striped longitudinally with white. These markings are most conspicuous on the 

 neck, and are said to fade rapidly from the back. [w. p. p.] 



2. Distribution. In the British Isles this species is only known with cer- 

 tainty to breed on one loch hi Inverness-shire, though previously suspected of having 

 nested in the Outer Hebrides and on the west coast of Scotland. Outside the 

 British Isles it breeds plentifully in Iceland, and on the Continent hi Norway, and 

 hi Sweden only in Jemtland, Gotland, and Oland ; in Finland more commonly in 

 the north than in the south, and hi Russia up to about 65. Southward it breeds 



