544 DIVING-BIRDS. 



portions of Africa and the whole of Greenland, this species is represented by a variety 

 in Western North Africa. Lastly, we have the familiar dabchick or little grebe 

 (P. Jluviatilis) of the Old World, and the least grebe (P. donxinicus) of tropical 

 America, together with some southern forms, as the representatives of a fourth group, 

 characterised by the small size of its members, the very short neck and beak, and 

 the absence of tufts or crests in the breeding-plumage. By many writers these 

 species are regarded as constituting a distinct genus — Tachybaptes. The dabchick, 

 which is the commonest of the British grebes, has a wide range in the Old World ; 

 its breeding-area including the subtropical portions of both the Northern and 

 Southern Hemispheres south of latitude 42°, as well as elevated regions within the 

 tropics, while in Western Europe it extends some 20° further noi-th. Not exceed- 

 ing 9 1 inches in length, the dabchick in breeding-plumage is characterised by the 

 chestnut-red of the cheeks and front of the neck, which in the American species 

 are always ashy grey. 



With the exception that the dabchick, like its small allies. 

 Habits. ^ , 



generally spends the whole year in the neighbourhood of fresh-waters, 



the grebes are very similar in their habits, all of them resorting to rivera and lakes 

 for the purpose of breeding. Their diving powers are such that, when pursued, 

 these birds seldom take to wing, but nearly always endeavour to escape by disap- 

 pearing beneath the water, to reappear in the most unexpected place. Indeed, 

 although the larger species fly strongly and well, with the neck stretched out and 

 the wings moving rapidly, the dabchick but rarely takes to flight. The ordinary 

 alarm-note of the great crested grebe may be expressed by the syllables kek-kek ; 

 but at the pairing-season a guttural sound is uttered. Their food consists of frogs, 

 fish, molluscs, water-insects, etc, supplemented by the shoots and seeds of aquatic 

 plants ; and several instances are on record where the dabchick has been found 

 choked through having endeavoured to swallow the common bullhead. The great 

 crested grebe frequently associates in parties during the breeding-season ; when, 

 like its congeners, it makes its large nest of decaying water-plants so nearly level 

 with the surface of the water that it is generally constantly wet. A colony of 

 these birds on the Zaader Zee, near Danzig, is described by Mr. Seebohm, who 

 writes, that " they were breeding in an immense reed-bed, and as our boat neared 

 their nesting-grounds we saw the grebes sailing majestically, not to say indignantly, 

 out of the side of the reed-bed. As soon as we reached the place I put on my 

 waders, and was soon in a dense forest of reeds, where it was very easy to lose 

 one's way. The water was above my knees, and the reeds were far above my 

 head. After stopping to take the nest of a great sedge-warbler with four eggs, I 

 soon found the colony of grebes. There were dozens of nests, but never very close 

 to each other, and I soon filled my handkerchief with eggs. It was the 5th of 

 June, and only about half the nests contained the full complement of eggs. The 

 birds had evidently seen us long before we approached, and had had ample time to 

 retreat with dignity. In the nests, which contained three or four eggs, these were 

 warm and covered with damp moss ; but in those containing only one or two, they 

 were uncovered and cold." Mr. Seebohm was thus led to believe that the eggs are 

 not covered till the female begins to incubate, and the purpose of covering them is 

 as a protection against chill, and not for concealment ; white eggs being quite in- 



