202 PODICIPIN^E. PODICEPS. 



claws small, depressed, the third expanded, and serrulate at 

 the end. Plumage very soft and blended, on the lower 

 parts silky ; scapulars very long and decurved ; wings small ; 

 primaries eleven, small, the outer two longest ; tail a slight 

 tuft of minute downy feathers. 



The Grebes are extensively distributed, but not numerous 

 as to species, inhabiting chiefly fresh water, but also occur- 

 ring on the sea, and especially estuaries. They swim and 

 dive with surprising agility ; feed on fishes, reptiles, and 

 insects ; fly with rapidity ; form a bulky nest, and lay nu- 

 merous oblong white eggs. The young presently after being 

 hatched betake themselves to the water. All the species 

 swallow feathers. 



271. PODICEPS CRISTATUS. CRESTED GREBE. 



Male about twenty-four inches in length, with the bill two 

 inches long, slender, compressed, carmine-red, the ridge dusky, 

 the lips yellowish-grey ; a transverse occipital crest, with two 

 more elongated tufts, and a large ruff on the cheeks and fore 

 neck ; the upper parts greyish-black, the lower silvery white, 

 the ruff light red anteriorly, black behind, the sides of the 

 body reddish-brown ; most of the secondary quills, the nu- 

 merals, and the anterior edge of the wing, white. Female 

 smaller, similar to the male, but with the tufts and ruff shorter. 

 Young without crest or ruff, dusky grey above, silvery white 

 beneath. 



Male, 23, 34, 7 T *> 2 yV> 2 T V, 2, fV Female, 19, 32. 



This species, the largest of its genus, is extensively dis- 

 persed over the northern parts of both Continents. It breeds 

 in various parts of Britain, forming a large nest, and laying 

 four eggs of an elongated elliptical form, two inches and a 

 quarter in length, only an inch and a half in breadth, green- 

 ish-white, and at length generally soiled with mud. It feeds 

 on fishes, frogs, insects, and mollusca. More individuals are 

 seen with us in winter, there being probably accessions from 

 more northern countries. The plumage, being dense and 

 glossy, is sometimes used in place of fur. 



Colymbus cristatus. Linn. Syst. Nat. i. 222. Podiceps cris- 

 tatus, Lath. Ind. Ornith. ii. 780. Podiceps cristatus, Temm. 

 Man. d'Ornith. ii. 717. Podiceps cristatus, Crested Grebe, 

 MacGillivray, Brit. Birds, v. 



Greater Crested Grebe, Tippet Grebe, Crested Ducker, 

 Gaunt, Cargoose. 



