THE SCLAVONIAN GREBE '9* 



full summer dress on at least one occasion, as late as the 26th April. It visits 

 Norfolk regularly and commonly, usually in the early part of the year, 

 specimens have, however, been procured (but rarely) as late in spring as April 

 and even May, some of them being in full nuptial plumage ; it is also occasionally 

 met with in late autumn. It visits the coast of Essex from autumn to spring, and 

 is found all along the coast of Sussex in spring, autumn, and winter, resorting in 

 severe weather to the estuaries and the ditches in the marsh lands. It is a frequent 

 winter visitor to Dorset, rarely met with late enough in spring to have assumed the 

 breeding dress. It appears to be less numerous in Devon, although occurring 

 both on the north and south coast, but adult birds are rare, and only one 

 example has been obtained in breeding dress, which was shot in Torbay. 

 Specimens in winter dress are occasionally found in Cornwall, but it is less 

 common in that county than either the Crested or Red-necked Grebes. Montagu 

 rescued from the hands of a fisherman, as he was just going to pluck it, a male 

 in full summer dress, killed near Truro on the 4th May, 1796. Only two 

 examples are recorded from Somerset, although it occurs not uncommonly on the 

 Welsh coast ; but on the north-west coast of England it is decidedly a scarce 

 bird. It is a regular winter visitor in small numbers to Ireland, and is usually 

 found on salt water. 



The Sclavonian Grebe sometimes visits the inland parts of England, and 

 is not a very uncommon visitor to Oxfordshire in the winter months. Most of 

 these examples are observed in some part of the Thames valley, either on that 

 river or one of its tributaries, and they probably follow the course of the river 

 up from the mouth. It is also not an uncommon visitor to Northamptonshire. 

 Booth remarks that a severe winter often brings many of these birds along the 

 East coast, several finding their way on to the ponds and rivers when free from 

 ice. 



The Sclavonian Grebe is a circumpolar species, breeding in sub-arctic regions, 

 and still further north under the influence of the Gulf Stream. It has been met 

 with in Jan Mayen Island in June. It breeds commonly in Iceland, but not in 

 the Faeroes, and is sparingly distributed over the whole of Sweden, from Gottenburg 

 up to East Finmark and far up into Norway (Wheelwright), in the last-named 

 country it is a regular breeder. It breeds also in Denmark and Russia. In 

 winter it wanders south over most parts of the rest of Europe, but it is only 

 rarely met with in the Mediterranean, although Colonel Irby thinks that it is 

 probably often to be met with in winter in the Straits of Gibraltar. It is very 

 rare on the coast of Italy. " In Asia it ranges across Siberia to Japan, and 

 about as far south as lat. 24 during the cold season " (H. Saunders). It 



VOL. VI 2 F 



