THE DIVERS. 245 



length of its wing being four inches. When in its nuptial dress, the plumage of the upper part of 

 the body is brilliant black shimmering with brown, the under parts being greyish white, clouded 

 with a darker shade ; the throat and a place in the front of the eye are black ; the head, sides of 

 the neck, and throat, chestnut-brown ; the eye is reddish brown ; the bridles yellowish green ; the 

 beak yellow at its base and black towards its apex ; the external aspect of the foot is blackish, 

 internally it is of a clear horn-colour. In its autumnal plumage the upper parts of the body are more 

 of a brownish grey, the under surface satiny white ; the head and neck bright grey. 



The range of this bird is pretty nearly the same as that of the species last described ; it is 

 not, however, so numerously met with during the winter season. It makes its appearance in 

 Germany about the end of March, and remains in that country so long as the waters are free from 

 ice ; but during the winter it takes up its abode in the south of Europe. In Great Britain it is 

 met with as far north as the Hebrides, and in the southern counties of England may be seen 

 throughout the year. 



It usually selects for its residence some large pond well provided with reeds and rushes, and it 

 is also occasionally to be found in morasses and other swampy localities. It seems to avoid clear 

 water ; its food, which consists principally of insects and their larvae, being more abundantly met with 

 in ditches and muddy places. In its habits and mode of life it closely resembles other members of 

 its family ; it seems, however, to be more active than the larger species, and uses its feet with more 

 facility in running. 



In swimming and diving it may be said to excel even its congeners, but its powers of flying are 

 very limited, owing to the shortness of its wings. Its flight, indeed, is said by Naumann to resemble 

 that of a grasshopper. In summer time it is very shy, and can only be approached with difficulty, 

 but in the winter its shyness diminishes, so that it will even come near villages, and at this season it 

 frequently falls a victim to its own carelessness. WTien alarmed it immediately dives, and if further 

 threatened with danger, secretes itself in the water under the shelter of the herbage, leaving nothing 

 but its beak visible above the surface, and thus it will remain until all cause for apprehension is 

 removed. Its voice is a short piping note that sounds like " bib " or " bibi,'" and this during the pairing 

 season is repeated so rapidly that it sounds something like a " shake " upon some musical instrument. 



The nest of the Little Grebe is always placed among water-plants, but is never hidden from view; 

 more commonly, indeed, it is rather a conspicuous object; it is, however, invariably removed from the 

 sides of the pond. In its appearance, it is just as rudely constructed, as wet and uncomfortable- 

 looking as that of the species last described. In this floating cradle the female, towards the end of 

 April or the beginning of May, lays from three to six elongated eggs, the colour of which seems to 

 depend upon that of the plants of which the nest is composed. Upon these eggs, both the male and 

 the female sit alternately for twenty or twenty-one days. As soon as the young are hatched they 

 betake themselves to the water, where they are taught and tended by their parents in the same 

 manner as those of the Crested Grebes described above. 



The DIVERS (Colymbi) may be regarded as the marine representatives of the Grebes, from 

 which, however, they are at once distinguishable by their larger bodies, shorter neck, more bulky head, 

 and stronger beak. These birds are fully webbed; their wings are short, and their quills, the 

 second of which is the longest, hard and stiff; the tail is composed of from sixteen to twenty close-set 

 feathers. The coloration of the thick warm plumage varies considerably at different seasons of the 

 year. The number of species belonging to this group is very limited ; of these only three are 

 recognised as belonging to Great Britain ; namely, C. glacialis, C. arctidts, and C. septmtrionalis. The 

 members of this group are essentially sea-birds, only visiting rivers or lakes of fresh water during the 



