248 DIVERS AND THEIR ATTITUDES 



discussed, it was well for me that I was not alone when 

 the opportunity for deciding it happened. My observa- 

 tion was confirmed by one of my sons-in-law, who was 

 with me. 



While on the subject of grebes, one may note the 

 misleading way in which the scientific title of these 

 birds is often rendered. Even so careful a writer as 

 Lord Lilford wrote of the sub-order as Podicipidce and 

 of the genus as Podiceps, which can only mean ' foot- 

 headed ' or ' foot-catching ' pretty good nonsense. Pro- 

 fessor Newton has explained in his Dictionary of Birds 

 (a compendium which no one should be without who 

 takes the least interest in his feathered fellow-creatures) 

 that the true names are Podicipedidce and Podicipes, 

 which, signifying creatures with feet on the podex or 

 rump, is accurately descriptive of the peculiar structure 

 of the race. 



