524 BIRDS OF SOMERSETSHIRE. 



Family COLYMBIDJE. 



The Colymbidse or Divers may be divided into 

 two families, the Grebes and what may be called the 

 true Divers. The Grebes are separated not only 

 from their near relations, the Divers, but from all 

 the rest of the birds in this great Order, by the 

 formation of their feet, which are not fully webbed, 

 like the others, but much more resemble the lobe 

 foot of the Bald Coot, the membrane, however, in 

 this case reaching the whole length of the toes, 

 without being indented at the joints as in that bird : 

 in other respects they very much resemble the rest 

 of the Divers. Of the Grebes I can include three 

 out of the five British species, and of the true Divers 

 two out of the three, making five Somersetshire 

 species out of the eight British Colymbidse. 



GREAT CRESTED GREBE, Podiceps cristatus. The 

 present species, the Great Crested Grebe, can only 

 be considered a rare accidental visitor to our county. 

 There are two specimens in the Museum at Taunton, 

 one presented by the Rev. Gerald Carew at the same 

 time as the Osprey, before mentioned (ante, p. 4), 

 and probably also shot in the ponds at Chargot; 

 and another, a young bird of the year, in the collec- 

 tion formerly belonging to the late Mr. Beadon, and 

 said, in his note-book, to have been killed in West 

 Sedgemoor when it was much flooded. Mr. Sanford 



