140 
NOTES ON THE GREAT CRESTED GREBE. 
F, B. WHITLOCK, 
Beeston, Notts. 
Tue Great Crested Grebe (Podiceps cristatus) is best known on the 
Trent as a bird of tolerably frequent appearance in the autumn 
months of the year, being seldom met with in breeding plumage, 
though it nests on neighbouring private waters, where it is protected 
I was therefore agreeably surprised on rounding a sharp bend of 
the river, to row my boat almost between a very fine pair. 
I approached as quietly as possible, following the male, but could 
not get nearer than thirty yards before he dived, to reappear again 
about thirty yards below me, so that he must have passed very nearly 
under my boat when he dived. I noticed that birds of this species 
seem to have the power of nearly submerging themselves before 
diving, so that when they disappear entirely, they only have to roll 
forward, the dive being accomplished with the greatest ease and 
without any noise. I several times saw this pair travel for quite 
seventy yards entirely under water. In diving to escape observation, 
they did not appear to go very deep, as I could trace their course on 
one occasion, by the eddies formed on the surface of the water. as 
they passed beneath. After following them a little way down the 
river, they both took wing, rising from the water rather awkwardly. 
Two days later I again met with one of this pair, but this time the 
bird appeared to have been put up by an approaching barge. I was 
greatly surprised to see what a powerful and sustained flight this 
species is capable of, even in the teeth of a strong east wind. 
n the wing, the Great Crested Grebe has a peculiar appearance, 
. the head and neck being stretched forward to their fullest extent, and 
the peculiar feet extended behind, so that the bird appears to possess a 
broad expanded tail. The white on the underparts is very conspicuous 
during flight, as are the white feathers of the wings. The only note 
I heard was a gutteral call of the male, which sounded like ‘Kitk Kuk.’ 
April 10th, 1892. a 
NOTE—ORNITHOLOG Y. 
_ Sheldrak e Solway.—It is interesting to note the increase of the 
Sheldrake (7Zadorna cornuta) in some parts of the Solway district owing to the 
their breed The nest is formed of down plu from the breast of the 
duck, and is ed in a variety of situations—under a piece o i 
hole, in a depress the ground, under t oot of a blown-down tree, under 
a mass of sticks or hazel cuttings, etc., left in woods. ir metimes nest 
several miles awa the sea, and when the young are hatched they are led by 
the parent birds in the early morning to the nearest st ; ing the 
course of \ = € sea is reached. Several ti ve I en red the families 
on these jou x A ape about 4 a.m.—J. J. ARMISTEAD, Solway Fishery, 
Dumfries, pena § 4 “Naturalist, 
ne turalist, 
