404 COLYMBID.E. 



then generally on or near the coast. M. Nilsson, the 

 Swedish naturalist, says the Great-crested Grebe breeds in 

 their lakes ; it is found on some of the large reeded lakes 

 of Russia and Siberia; it is abundant in Germany, Hol- 

 land, and France, in Provence, and Italy, at Corfu, Sicily 

 and Malta; it is found also at Tangiers, and Dr. Smith 

 brought examples from South Africa. The Zoological 

 Society have received specimens from Smyrna and Tre- 

 bizond; it has been observed about Mount Caucasus and 

 in several parts of Asia. 



The under surface of the body of this bird being of a 

 delicate silvery whiteness, and of a shining silky appear- 

 ance, one of the names of this well known bird is that of 

 Satin Grebe ; and skins, from the beauty of their appear- 

 ance, are in great request for making into muffs for ladies, 

 or more frequently to cut up into narrow strips as trim- 

 ming for pelisses. A good skin sells for six or eight 

 francs on the continent, and in the vicinity of the Lake of 

 Geneva, which is frequented in autumn by these birds, it 

 is usual for sportsmen to make parties on the lake to 

 obtain specimens by shooting. This sport, called La 

 cJiasse du Grebe, is referred to by M. Necker, in his 

 paper on the birds of Geneva, and has been described 

 to me by an English gentleman who had pursued the 

 amusement. 



A party of four, as shooters, hire a boat with able 

 rowers, and on a calm day, when the surface of the lake is 

 smooth, they put off, and look out with telescopes for a 

 large Grebe, towards which the men row ; on their ap- 

 proach the bird dives, and the boatmen pull with vigour 

 in the direction the bird has taken, in order to be near it 

 when it comes up to the surface to breathe. One of 

 the shooters stations himself in the bow of the boat, one at 



