532 PODICIPEDID^E 



This bird breeds freely throughout the British Isles on 

 sheltered lakes and ponds, both large and small, also along 

 the margins of deep sluggish streams, overgrown with reeds 

 and bulrushes. The nest may be situated far inland or near 

 the coast, in the latter situation I have known the bird to 

 breed about brackish ponds connected by a channel with 

 the sea. 



This Grebe is somewhat less numerous in the northern 

 counties of Scotland, though it is noteworthy that it breeds 

 at an elevation of 2,000 feet in some districts in the High- 

 lands. It is also resident on some of the larger islands of 

 the western sea-board of Scotland. 



In Ireland it is a common breeding-species, and is abun- 

 dant in summer along the Shannon and the great lakes 

 passing through it. 



Geographical distribution. Abroad, the Little Grebe 

 breeds in many countries in Central and Southern Europe, 

 and in North Africa. Eastward it is generally distributed 

 over Temperate Asia, breeding as far as Japan. It has not 

 yet been recorded as nesting in Iceland, nor did Mr. F. 

 Coburn find it in his recent expedition, though the Horned 

 Grebe was very common. The breeding-range in Europe 

 hardly extends north of the latitude of the Shetland Isles ; 

 in Central Europe the bird occurs chiefly as a summer- 

 migrant, though resident in the south as well as in Asia and 

 in North Africa. 



DESCRIPTIVE CHARACTERS. 



PLUMAGE. Adult male nuptial. Front and top of head, 

 hind-neck, back, scapulars, and wings, dark bronze-brown ; 

 primaries, brown ; outer secondaries, chiefly brown ; inner 

 ones, marked with white ; cheeks, chin, and upper throat, 

 blackish-brown ; lower throat, sides and front of neck, 

 and back of cheeks, rich chestnut ; breast and abdomen, 

 silvery brownish shading to greyish-white ; flanks and rump, 

 brownish, with an admixture of reddish-brown streaks. 



Adult female nuptial. Similar in plumage to the male. 



Adult winter, male and female. Chin and throat white ; 



! cheeks, sides of head and neck, and upper breast, dull 



brownish -buff; lower breast and abdomen, chiefly silvery 



i white with a brownish shading on the flanks, and a grey 



shading on the under tail-coverts ; otherwise similar to the 



i nuptial plumage. 



