PODICIPES. 473 



feathers. No stones are found in the gizzard, and the feathers 

 apparently are a substitute. 



This family is very widely distributed and has been divided into 

 several genera. The three Indian representatives may all be kept 

 in one generic group, though the Little Grebe is generally 

 separated. 



Genus PODICIPES, Lath., 1790. 



Bill straight, compressed, sharply pointed ; nostrils oblong, sub- 

 basal ; wings short ; tail quite rudimentary, consisting of short 

 downy feathers ; tarsus much compressed, covered with large 

 scutellae in front, serrated behind. 



The Grebes are expert divers and good swimmers, but very 

 poor walkers, they very rarely leave the water and, if in danger, 

 endeavour to escape by diving. They rise from the water with 

 difficulty owing to the shortness of their wings, but once in the 

 .air they appear to have, as a rule, considerable powers of flight, 

 .and many species are migratory. The young are longitudinally 

 striped above. 



This genus is cosmopolitan ; three species occur within Indian 

 limits. 



Key to the Species. 



a. Wing about 7'5 in. ; tarsus 2'4 in P. cristatus, p. 473. 



b. Wing 5-3 ; tarsus 1'6 P. niyricollis, p. 474. 



c. Wing 4 ; tarsus 1'35 P. albipennis, p. 475. 



1615. Podicipes cristatus. The Great Crested Grebe. 



Colymbus cristatus, Linn. Syst. Nat. i, p. 222 (1766). 



Podiceps cristatus, Lath. Ind. Orn. ii, p. 780 ; Blyth, Cat. p. 311 ; 



Theobald, J. A. S. B. xxiii, p. 602 ; Jerdon, B. L iii, p. 821 ; 



Hume, S. F. i, pp. 142, 265 ; A. Anderson, S. F. iii, p. 274 ; 



Hume, S. F. iv, p. 31 ; A. Anderson, P. Z. S. 1877, p. 807 ; 



Butler, S. F. v, pp. 224, 235 ; Hume, S. F. vii, p. 497 ; id. Cat. 



no. 974 ; Reid, S. F. x, p. 85 ; Barnes, Birds Bom. p. 418 ; Hume, 



S. F. xi, p. 348 ; Oates in Hume's N. $ E. 2nd ed. iii, p. 401 ; 



Bulkley, Jour. Bom. N. H. Soc. vi, p. 501. 



Coloration. Forehead, crown, and bifid occipital crest black, 

 slightly glossed with green ; lores, sides of the head, chin, and 

 upper throat white, passing gradually into deep rufous and 

 this again into black on the long feathers that form a collar or 

 ruff round the neck just below the head ; back of neck and upper 

 parts dark brown, primaries and tertiaries the same ; secondaries, 

 marginal wing-coverts and wing-lining, and some of the lower 

 scapulars white ; lower parts silky white ; sides of breast and 

 flanks ashy brown mixed with rufous. 



Immature birds have no crest or ruff, aud are dark ashy brown 

 .above, white below ; secondaries and lower scapulars white as in 

 adults. 



