528 PODICIPEDID^ 



elongated thin plumes, golden-brown in colour, is spread 

 over the ears covering the back of the cheeks ; base of fore- 

 neck, chestnut-red ; back, scapulars, and wing-coverts, dark 

 brown ; secondaries, almost entirely white ; four inner pri- 

 maries also exhibiting much white, a mark that distinguishes 

 this species from the Horned Grebe ; rest of primaries, 

 chiefly brownish ; breast, abdomen, and under tail-coverts, 

 pure white ; flanks and sides, dull reddish-brown. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar in plumage to the male. 



Adult winter, male and female. No ear tufts; chin, 

 throat, and cheeks, white ; ear-coverts, and front of neck, 

 brownish- white ; sides and flanks, white edged with greyish- 

 brown ; otherwise similar to the adult nuptial dress. 



Immature, male and female. Resembles the adult 

 winter-plumage . 



BEAK. Blackish, reddish at the base ; upcurved near 

 the tip. 



FEET. Olive-green shading to blackish ; inner surface, 

 leaden-blue. 



IRIDES. Crimson, with a narrow white ring round the 

 pupil. 



AVERAGE MEASUREMENTS. 



TOTAL LENGTH... ... 12 in. Female smaller. 



WING 5 



BEAK 0'9 



TARSO-METATARSUS ... 1*5 ,, 



EGG 1-65 X 115 in. 



Allied Species and Representative Forms. P. calif or- 

 nicus, which closely resembles our bird but has hardly 

 any white on the wings, is found in North America, though 

 neither species frequents Greenland. 



LITTLE GREBE. Podicipes fluviatilis (Tunstall). 



Coloured Figures. Gould, * Birds of Great Britain,' vol. v, pi. 

 42; Dresser, 'Birds of Europe,' vol. viii, pi. 633 ; Lilford, 

 * Coloured Figures,' vol. vi, pi. 52. 



The Little Grebe, though insignificant in size and but 

 modestly attired even in the nuptial dress, is by far the 



