THE LITTLE GREBE 



PODICEPS MINOR 



LOCAL names in surrounding counties : " Dobchick " 

 (Essex). 



STATUS IN BRITISH AVIFAUNA : A common and widely 

 distributed resident. 



RADIAL DISTRIBUTION WITHIN FIFTEEN MILES OF ST. 

 PAUL'S : The Little Grebe breeds commonly, and in a 

 perfectly wild state, about a mile and a half from the 

 Cathedral, in St. James's Park. Four or five pairs fre- 

 quent this locality. I believe the bird also nests in 

 Battersea Park, at Kew, and possibly in Regent's Park. 

 I have records of this Grebe from the Serpentine, and 

 from one or two reservoirs at no great distance from the 

 central districts. In the more rural and secluded suburbs 

 the Little Grebe becomes more widely dispersed, and I 

 have so many records of its presence in all directions 

 that an enumeration of them is scarcely necessary. On the 

 other hand, the bird appears to be somewhat capricious 

 in selecting its haunts, and I have known it to frequent 

 certain spots right through the winter, yet desert them in 

 spring, although apparently suitable in every way for 

 nesting purposes. The smallest pools and drains will 

 often afford this Grebe a refuge, and in winter it is given 

 to much wandering. It occurs in some numbers on the 

 ponds about Northolt and Uxbridge, the latter, however, 

 being just without our limits, but within a few minutes' 

 ride or walk of them. 



The habits and movements of the Little Grebe may be 

 readily observed within a few minutes' walk of the busy 

 Strand, in St. James's Park. The bird is nothing nearly 

 so shy and wary as the preceding species, and will fearlessly 

 swim about the ornamental water there quite close to the 

 bank. It is just as expert a diver as its larger ally, and its 



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