THE GREBES 417 



as in the extinct giant Diver ff&perornis. Then the Divers are web- 

 footed, the Grebes lobe-footed, like the Coots, and "fin-foots" and the 

 Phalaropes. Progress on land, both in the case of Grebes and Divers, 

 is difficult. But the Grebes can at least walk ; the Divers have lost 

 this power, and make their way on land only by shuffling along on the 

 breast aided by the wings. The feet, both of Grebes and Divers, are 

 remarkable for the extraordinary degree of lateral compression which 

 they display, causing the toes when coming forward to the stroke in 

 swimming to lie one behind the other. Thus the least possible resist- 

 ance to the water is given. But why the whole plantar surface of the 

 foot of the Grebes should be provided with a double row of short, 

 conical spikes, while in the Divers it forms a " knife-edge," no one has 

 been able to suggest. 



The Divers have a well-defined tail of short, stiff feathers ; the 

 Grebes are, to all intents and purposes, tailless, for in spite of state- 

 ments to the contrary, the tail feathers of these birds can only be dis- 

 covered after careful search, and are never more than degenerate 

 semiplumous structures, scarcely, if at all, exceeding the general 

 feathering of the body in length. 



As touching coloration, the Grebes are, perhaps, the more resplen- 

 dent, while in the matter of the coloration of the nestling they are 

 more primitive than the Divers, for the young Grebe is striped, young 

 Divers are whole-coloured. Not the least striking feature of the 

 adults is the peculiar satin-like sheen of the white breast feathers, 

 which is possessed by few other birds. These feathers a few years ago 

 unhappily caught the eye of the milliners ; as a result there was an 

 enormous demand for Grebes' breasts, entailing an appalling slaughter 

 of birds, such as would speedily have put an end to the species had not 

 the tide of feminine taste happily turned. 



