1 920. J Cdjie San Atifiihio. Buenos Ayreo. 83 



Stercorarius crepidatus Saunders, Cat. B. xxv. p. 327. 



Claude (rrant has not only cstablislied this Skua as a visitor 

 to our district, but possibly adds a record for Argentina. 

 He secured a specimen on the coast on 21 February, 1909; 

 and exactly a year subsequently saw two other individuals 

 close to the same spot ('Ibis/ July 1911, p. 476). 



419. ^chmophorus major Bodd, Great Grebe. 



Adnlt. Iris dark brown (occasionally yellow) ; bill dark 

 horn-colour^ almost black ; feet grey, mottled with black. 



Immature. Eye black ; bill pale yellow, dark on culmen; 

 front of feet yellow, back of same, and the soles, black. 



Nestling. Eye black ; bill grey, tip black ; feet grey, 

 mottled with black. On the top and centre of head is a 

 bare yellow patch of soft skin. 



Though, as Mr. Hudson remarks, "there is little diversity 

 in the habits of Grebes," yet, as it is a long time since I 

 wrote about this particular species, there is nothing lost in 

 speaking of its general life-history. 



I am aware of the fact he makes special allusion to, 

 " that it is now much sought after on account of the beauty 

 of its plumage." And I should imagine that on the Parana 

 delta, for example, it is becoming rarer. Here, however, 

 there has arisen no demand for its skin, the plume-hunter 

 having confined himself to the pursuit of the two species of 

 Egrets, and accordingly no diminution in its numbers has 

 taken place. Single birds, or more generally pairs, may be 

 found in every locality ; the swamps, lagunas, and tidal 

 creeks, and even the salt-water at Cape San Antonio seem 

 congenial to its everyday life. So late as 3 November, 1915, 

 on the large drainage-canal between Ajo and Santo Domingo, 

 I observed a large number, particularly near the former 

 town. This and the Cormorant were the two species which 

 afforded me most amusement as my nafta-launch hustled 

 them all that day. 



On the 13th of December, 1898, I happened to shoot 

 a female, and \^ith it secured a yoiing one, which it was 

 carrying on its back or hidden below the wing (there being 



g2 



