244 BIRDS OF MIDDLESEX. 



winter of 1839, but had never previously observed 

 it. He subsequently obtained one which was " taken 

 about the large ponds at Hampstead, near London, 

 and sent alive to Sir Hans Sloane, who, when it 

 died, sent it to me that a draft of it might be pre- 

 served." Of this example the author gives a coloured 

 figure and description, and adds that, as he had the 

 bird soon after it was dead, before the colour of the 

 eyes and feet was changed, he was thereby enabled 

 to describe it accurately. He does not give the 

 date of the capture, but the description given is 

 that of an adult male in imperfect summer plumage. 



In the ' British Miscellany' (p. 19, t. 70) there is 

 a representation of a male and female of this species, 

 accompanied by the nest and eggs, which were taken 

 in a pond on Chelsea Common, in June, 1805. Two 

 specimens, killed at Kingsbury Reservoir in 1841, 

 are mentioned in Yarrell's ' British Birds ' (vol. iii., 

 p. 421), and the subsequent occurrence of this rare 

 species at the same sheet of water is recorded in 

 ' The Zoologist ' for 1843. 



LITTLE GREBE, Podiceps minor. Provincial, 

 Dabchick. This interesting little bird appears 

 most numerous in spring and autumn, when there 

 is apparently a migration through the county. It 

 seldom remains to breed, except in the most fa- 

 vourable localities, such as quiet ponds, where an 

 abundance of flags, or other thick cover, affords 

 sufficient shelter ; and the majorit}^ of the birds 



