NOTES. 31 



Incubation in some cases had probably not begun, as several 



birds were indulging in the grotesque bowing and head-shaking 



that marks the course of courtship in this species ; two birds 



were brooding on nests in the rushes, and it was obvious from 



the pose of another, sitting high in the water as it did, with 



wings slightly raised, that it was carrying young birds on its 



back. A closer inspection with the glass showed that the 



young birds — three in number — had not long been hatched, for, 



apart from their size, the ground colour of their striped downy 



plumage was much whiter than is the case with nestlings a few 



days old, and except when they craned their necks in order to 



be fed they were almost entirely concealed by the sheltering 



feathers of the parent bird. Now and then one of the young 



ones would slide into the water from the old bird's neck ; it 



never remained there, however, for many seconds but scrambled 



up over the old bird's tail to regain its floating cradle, using feet, 



wings and, I think, bill in doing so. The old bird, from time 



to time, picked up something from the surface of the water, 



and, turning its head, fed the jostling trio on its shoulders. 



Its mate, too, foraging in the vicinity with lowered neck, tippet 



trailing in the water, and bill submerged, made frequent visits 



with food which it gathered on the surface — I did not see it 



dive — and fed the young ones. I could not make out what 



the food was, but whilst I was watching the birds the old one 



twice swam up with a white feather in its bill — perhaps gleaned 



from the water, perhaps plucked from its own plumage — and 



proffered it to the young, one of which on each occasion 



swallowed it with many gulps and struggles. This act 



suggests that the curious habit of swallowing feathers obtains 



in Grebes at a very early age.* ^ ^ 



J J ° Chas. Oldham. 



SLAVONIAN GREBES IN SUMMER IN ORKNEY. 



With reference to the occurrences of the Slavonian Grebe 

 (Podicipes auritus) in Scotland in summer, mentioned in 

 Vol. II., p. 334, these birds often stay very late in Orkney 

 during adverse winds, but certainly do not nest there. On 

 April 5th, 1908, my boatman got one there in almost full 

 summer plumage ; on April 10th two in full summer plumage 

 flew past within fifteen yards of me, and I saw several others 

 three parts changed, and they were still about during the first 

 week in May. The latest date was the end of the second 

 week in June during 1907, when my boatman procured one 



* In " The Home-Life of some Marsh-Birds," Miss E. L. Turner 

 records (p. 13) how a parent Great Crested Grebe offered feathers to 

 the young when only a day old. — H.F.W. 



