206 BRITISH BIRDS. [vol. xv. 



down to the surface of the water, never actually entering 

 it, however. Its small size was very noticeable, and when it 

 at last alighted on a large stone sticking out of the mud we 

 had no difficulty in identifying it. 



Great Northern Diver {Colvmbus inmier).— On 

 November 20th, 1921, an immature bird was seen on the 

 Llanishen Reservoir, and we were able to watch it through 

 a telescope at a distance of less than 200 yards. Its large 

 size and heavy build placed its identification beyond doubt. 



Black-necked Grebe {Podiceps nigricollis). — A single 

 bird was identified on November 6th, 1921, on a pool near 

 the coast. As far as we can ascertain it is the first to be 

 recorded for the county. It was in the company of some 

 Coots {Fulica atra) also one Little Grebe {Podiceps ruficollis), 

 so we were able to gauge accurately its size. Seen through 

 binoculars it conveyed the impression of a slightly enlarged 

 edition of the Little Grebe in black and white, but the telescope 

 revealed the slender and slightly uptilted bill, dark eye, dark 

 brownish-black head and back of neck, and dusky band on 

 lower neck. The dark colouring of the head reached to well 

 below the level of the eye in this specimen. As we are 

 familiar with the Slavonian Grebe (P. anritus) we have no 

 hesitation in recording this as P. nigricollis. 



Geoffrey C. S. Ingram. 

 H. Morrey Salmon. 



[The dark (blackish) colouring of the head reaching " to well 

 below the level of the eye " is a good point of distinction 

 (besides the shape of the bill and the white on the primaries) 

 in the winter and juvenile plumages of the Black-necked 

 Grebe because in the Slavonian Grebe in similar plumages 

 the white of the chin reaches right up to the eye. — H.F.W.] 



UNUSUAL LINING IN JAY'S NEST. 

 With reference to Mr. Day's note {antea, p. 187), a similar 

 nest, very heavily and practically entirely lined with long 

 black horsehair (from the mane) and containing five normal 

 eggs, was found by Mr. C. H. Roper and myself on May 6th, 

 1905, in Epping Forest. Both nest and eggs, taken two days 

 later, are in my possession. The former is considerably larger 

 than the generality ; built outside of twigs of blackthorn, 

 oak and birch (the last-mentioned with new buds just burst- 

 ing) the interior correspondingly big, deep and cup-shaped, 

 resembling greatly the inside of a gigantic nest of the Yellow 

 Bunting {Emberiza citrinella). The sitting bird left the nest 

 on both occasions cited. J. M. Goodall. 



