410 COLYMBHLE. 



The adult bird has both mandibles of the beak black, ex- 

 cept at the base, where it is yellow ; the i rides red ; top of 

 the head, and back of the neck, rich dark brown, almost 

 black ; cheeks, chin, and throat, fine bluish-grey, margined 

 with white ; back, wing-coverts, tertials and rump, dark 

 brown; wing-primaries nearly black; the secondaries white ; 

 neck in front rich chestnut-red ; breast and belly silky 

 white; sides under the wing, the flanks, and under tail- 

 coverts greyish-brown ; legs and toes dark greenish-brown 

 on the outer surface, the inner surface greenish-yellow ; 

 the whole length sixteen inches and a half. From the 

 carpal joint to the end of the primaries seven inches. 



Young birds have the head and neck behind dusky- 

 brown ; the back and wings neither so dark in the brown 

 colour, nor so uniform in the tint, as in the adult birds, 

 the margins of the feathers being ash-brown ; chin, throat, 

 and neck in front greyish-white ; other parts as in the 

 more adult birds. I have seen young birds more than half 

 grown which exhibited longitudinal dark stripes on a light 

 ground-colour down the neck. 



The figure below represents the form of the foot in the 

 Grebes. 



