A CHESHIRE BIRD 73 



much slighter in build than the mallard or common wild 

 duck; in build it is not specially a surface swimmer, but 

 is excellently adapted for rapid progress under water. 

 When a grebe wishes to travel swiftly from one part of 

 the water to another it dives, swimming under water. 

 A bird which feeds on fish must be cigar- or torpedo- 

 shaped in order to capture its swift prey; there are no 

 bluff bows, projecting elbows, or other obstructions 

 on the body of the diving grebe. The general colour 

 scheme is brown above, white beneath, but in summer the 

 head and neck are ornamented; the dark brown crest 

 has two elongations, known, somewhat misleadingly, as 

 " ear tufts," though they have nothing to do with the 

 ears. A chestnut frill or ruff surrounds the upper part 

 of the long and slender neck; this is the tippet. Pennant, 

 who thought that the tippet grebe was a distinct species, 

 says: " This species has been shot on Rosterne Mere in 

 Cheshire; it is rather scarce in England, but is common 

 in the winter time on the Lake of Geneva, where they 

 appear in flocks of ten or twelve, and are killed for the 

 sake of their beautiful skins. The underside of them, 

 being dressed with the feathers on, are made into muffs 

 and tippets; each bird sells for about fourteen shillings." 

 For diagnostic characters he states that this species is 

 rather smaller, lacks crest and ruff, and " the sides of the 

 neck are striped downwards from the head with narrow 

 lines of black and white." It is evident that Pennant's 

 Rostherne bird was immature, still having the striped 

 neck markings which are characteristic of all young 

 grebes. The frill and full tufts are lost in winter, though 

 indication of the latter can be seen at all seasons on 

 mature birds. Thus Pennant's tippet grebe was without 

 tippet; it was the silvery breast, suitable for tippets, 

 which gave it the name. 

 The adaptability of the grebe for rapid subaqueous 



