414 THE ZOOLOGIST. 
that the date was March. This is probably a mistake; the bird 
may have been the Little Grebe in spring plumage. 
Podiceps auritus (Linn.). Sclavonian Grebe.—A rare winter 
visitant. Harley mentions one shot on Groby Pool; others have 
been met with on the Soar, Trent, and Wreake. Widdowson 
reports one, in immature plumage, occurring at Melton. 
Podiceps nigricollis (C. L. Brehm). Eared Grebe.—A rare 
visitant ; and probably Harley is mistaken when he says of this 
species, “ Formerly more abundant, and pretty well distributed 
over the county. Chaplain procured it, however, on Groby Pool.” 
Tachybaptes fluviatilis (Tunstall). Little Grebe (‘‘ Didopper,” 
“ Dabchick.”).—Resident and sparingly distributed. Potter, in 
his ‘History of Charnwood Forest,’ says, “‘Rothley, Groby, &c.; 
but not abundant.” It is common on the Soar, Trent, Wreake, 
and other streams, as well as on most large waters, as Saddington, 
Groby, and Bosworth Pools. Young Grebes have a shrill call- 
note, which they incessantly keep up when they first come abroad 
on the surface of the water. Mr. W. A. Evans presented to the 
Museum a nest and three eggs, taken by him at Thornton 
Reservoir on 9th June, 1881. Mr. Ingram writes word that it 
“breeds in Frog Hollow Pond, near Belvoir.” I saw one on 
Bosworth Pool] on 6th Dec., 1884; and shot one at Belgrave, by 
the sewage weir, on 10th February, 1886. 
Family Aucipz. 
Lomvia troile (Linn.). Common Guillemot.—Mr. Macaulay 
states (Mid. Nat., 1882, p. 79) that he has a specimen “shot 
many years since on the River Soar, at Cossington, by the 
miller who then resided there.” 
Mergulus alle (Linn.). Little Auk.—A rare straggler from 
the coast, driven inland by severe weather. According to the 
Rev. Churchill Babington, ‘A pair of these birds were taken 
at Nanpantan, Nov. 6th, 1837, in a turnip field, by Mr. Cartwright, 
of Loughborough, who endeavoured, without success, to keep 
them alive on fish and insects.” Writing of the Little Auk, 
Harley says, “During the autumn of 1838 it appeared in 
Leicestershire; and a pair, in a semi-exhausted state, were 
picked up amongst the hills of Charnwood Forest. In the 
autumn of 1840 this species again occurred in the county and 
adjoining districts.” Widdowson writes, “Several have been 
