526 PODICIPEDID^ 



been observed in winter and on the east coast, which it 

 first touches on migration ; but Kerry, Mayo, and Donegal, 

 are not without records. 



It resorts to inland as well as to tidal waters, indeed it 

 is noteworthy that the first Irish specimen (recorded by 

 Thompson) was taken on Lough Neagh in 1826. This 

 extensive sheet of water, and other lakes have been visited 

 by Eared Grebes. Three birds were recently taken in 1899, 

 viz., one in Kerry in March, one in Wicklow in October, 

 and one in Westmeath in October (Williams and Son); 

 while examples have also been secured from : Cork, 

 Waterford, Wexford, Dublin, Mayo, 1 Louth, Armagh, 

 Down, Antrim, and Donegal, in all about twenty-one 

 records (Ussher). 



The Eared Grebe in summer, may be distinguished from 

 the preceding species by its much smaller head-ornaments ; 

 in the winter and immature plumages it is more difficult to 

 identify ; however, it is somewhat smaller, while its beak 

 is slightly curved upwards. In other Grebes the beak is 

 straight. 



Flight. In its general habits, its flight, and diving- 

 powers, this bird in no wise differs from its congeners. 



Voice. The note is softer than that of other Grebes 

 and sounds like beeb, beeb, or in the nesting-season a two- 

 syllabled note is uttered sounding like bidder (Naumann). 



Food. Fish and crabs, also beetles (to which the bird 

 seems partial), form the diet. Watters found the stomach 

 of an Eared Grebe entirely filled with beetles which 

 glittered among the feathers in which they were embedded. 

 "When the bird was captured two large beetles were found 

 in the throat (' Birds of Ireland,' p. 221). 



Nest. Several observers have found the nest on tufts 

 built up from the bottom of the water, situated on islets or 

 on the margin of a lake. But in other situations it floats 

 amid reeds, these in a state of decay forming the chief 

 materials of the nest. In Algeria the late Canon Tristram 

 observed this bird breeding in colonies so dense that some of 



1 Mr. Warren only met with one example on the Mayo coast during 

 his long experience in that locality. This bird was shot in Killala Bay 

 on February 6th, 1852. 



Two specimens in full nuptial-plumage have been obtained in Ire- 

 land. One near Dublin on June 15th, 1847 (Watters), the other in the 

 co. Armagh early in June, 1849 (Thompson). 



