GOOSANDER. TIPPET GREBE. 217 



limited numbers than that species. Rarely obtained, an oc- 

 casional specimen in the unobtrusive plumage of the female 

 may appear in the markets of the city, but, very irregular in 

 their occurrence, a period of ten years often elapses before 

 they are again remarked, and then, as if making amends for 

 their long disappearance, they occur in large flocks widely 

 dispersed over the island. Thus, in the winter of 1849, as 

 many as eleven of these birds were received by Mr. Glennon, 

 all of which were obtained on inland lakes and rivers. At 

 the same season a richly coloured adult male and a female 

 came into our own possession, shot out of a flock of twenty 

 birds on the Shannon, near Limerick ; other birds were ob- 

 tained on small mountain lochs in Wicklow, and on rivers in 

 the south of Ireland. 



One pair shot by a gamekeeper were described by him to 

 have been much annoyed by moor buzzards whilst on the 

 water, both birds diving to avoid them when stooped at. 

 When newly killed the adult male of this species exhibits a 

 very beautiful appearance, in the admirable contrast of the 

 rich buff orange colour of the breast and abdomen, with the 

 velvetty black mantle, and the vermillion of the bill and legs. 

 The females of this family exhibit nearly as uniform an ap- 

 pearance in the dull and unobtrusive tints of their plumage, 

 to all of which the name of dun diver has been indifferently 

 applied. 



Habitat Northern Europe. 



FAMILY XXXVII COLYMBIDISLE (DIVERS). 



GENUS GIL PODTCIPIN^: (GREBES). 

 SPECIES 211 THE TIPPET GREBE. 



Podiceps cristatus. Selby. 

 Grebe huppe. Temm. 



Crested Grebe. 



OF the various natatorial tribes found tenanting the inland 

 lakes and seas around our island, none are so deserving of 

 attention, or so interesting in their habits, as the curious 

 family of the grebes. The backward position and curious 

 structure of the feet, the flat, compressed shape of the body, 

 and the shortness of the wings (which in a great measure for- 

 ward their sub -aquatic evolutions), together with the fact 



