GREBE. NATATORES PODICEPS. 393 



nent. Like the others of its genus, it is a very expert diver, 

 remaining long under water; and, when pursued, merely 

 raises its bill above the surface for respiration. It feeds up- Food, 

 on small fish, insects, &c. ; and the stomach, upon dissection, 

 is always found to contain a mass, greater or less, of its own 

 feathers, a peculiarity which has been observed in all the 

 species, but whether swallowed accidentally in dressing the 

 plumage, or purposely to aid the digestive process, has not 

 yet been satisfactorily ascertained. I should rather favour 

 the latter supposition, as the feathers which have been for 

 some time in the stomach are much comminuted, and in a 

 fit state for passing into the intestines ; a fact also observed 

 by MONTAGU. This species is widely diffused, being abun- 

 dant in the eastern parts of Europe, where it is found upon 

 the lakes and larger rivers, but it becomes gradually rarer 

 to the westward. It is also an inhabitant of the Arctic Re- 

 gions of America, and was met with upon the Great Slave 

 Lake during FRANKLIN'S Expedition in 1822. Its nest is 

 built amidst the aquatic herbage, or reeds, composed of simi- ^ est> & 

 lar decayed materials, and rises and falls with the water. 

 The eggs are stated by TEMMINCK to be three or four, of a 

 greenish- white, clouded with deep brown. 



PLATE 72. Represents this bird of the natural size, from a 

 specimen killed in 1826 at the Fern Islands, on the Nor- 

 thumbrian coast. 



Bill one inch and a half in length from the forehead to the General 

 tip, black, with the base of the under mandible, and the tion. 

 lower part of the upper one, lemon-yellow. Crown of 

 the head, and occipital tufts, deep glossy greyish-black. 

 Cheeks, chin, and throat, grey, palest towards the junc- 

 tion with the feathers of the head. Back part of the 

 neck and upper plumage deep blackish-grey, with the 

 edges of the feathers paler. Throat and breast orange- 

 coloured brown, the latter being clouded with greyish- 

 white. Belly and abdomen greyish-white, with a silky 



