GREBES. 



543 



is no seasonal difference in the general plumage; this species being exclusively 

 North American. The great crested grebe (P. cristatus), which is the largest 

 member of the genus, and attains a length of from 21 to 22 inches, belongs, on the 

 other hand, to a section in which the neck and beak are shorter, and the head of 

 the adult is ornamented in the breeding-season at least, with coloured ruffs, tufts, 

 or patches ; while the general plumage in the breeding-season, differs considerably 

 from that of the adult in winter, and likewise from that of the young. In this 

 particular species the crest, although largest in summer, is borne throughout the 

 year; but in others it disappears in winter completely. In its summer plumage, 

 this bird may be recognised by its chestnut-coloured ear-coverts, and the white 

 front of the lower neck and breast ; while in winter it has the lores and a stripe 

 over the eye white. 

 Confined to the Eastern 

 Hemisphere, this 

 species is remarkable 

 for the extent of its 

 breeding -area, which 

 includes Britain and 

 Southern Europe, the 

 whole of Africa, and 

 the greater portion of 

 Southern and Central 

 Asia, as well as Aust- 

 ralia and New Zealand. 

 It is noteworthy that 

 the Australasian forms, 

 though completely 

 isolated, present no 

 differences from the 

 others. The smaller 



red-necked grebe (P. griseigena), which only measures 16 inches in length, 

 takes its names from the chestnut hue of the front of the lower neck in the summer 

 plumage, in which alone the crests on the head are present. Inhabiting a large 

 portion of Northern Europe and Asia, this species appears to have a circumpolar 

 distribution ; although some writers regard the variety occurring in America and 

 North-Eastern Asia as a distinct species, under the name of P. holboelli. A third 

 group of the genus is characterised by the smaller size of its members, in which 

 the neck is short, and the beak shorter than the head, while ear-tufts are present 

 in the breeding-plumage. Its best known representative is the circumpolar 

 Sclavonian grebe (P. cornutus), which visits the British Islands and Gibraltar in 

 winter, and, except in Norway, does not breed north of the Arctic Circle. Measur- 

 ing a little over 13 inches in length, it is characterised by its compressed beak ; and 

 the combination in the breeding-plumage of a chestnut fore-neck with black ear- 

 tufts. On the other hand, the black -necked grebe (P. nigricollis) may be recognised 

 by the prevalence of black on both the fore-neck and the ear-coverts. Ranging 

 over the greater part of Europe and Asia (except India and Burma), as well as 



CRESTED GREBE. 



