﻿420 
  THE 
  ZOOLOGIST. 
  

  

  Here 
  these 
  valuable 
  field-notes 
  come 
  to 
  an 
  end. 
  

  

  Of 
  the 
  three 
  rarer 
  Grebes 
  which 
  visit 
  this 
  country, 
  the 
  present 
  

   species 
  has 
  always 
  been 
  regarded 
  as 
  the 
  most 
  likely 
  to 
  remain 
  to 
  

   breed 
  with 
  us, 
  and 
  I 
  may 
  mention 
  that 
  in 
  a 
  letter 
  addressed 
  to 
  

   the 
  Editors 
  of 
  the 
  ' 
  Ibis' 
  (1902, 
  p. 
  165), 
  when 
  recording 
  a 
  pair 
  

   of 
  Eared 
  Grebes 
  killed 
  in 
  Oxfordshire 
  on 
  Sept. 
  19th, 
  1899 
  (which 
  

   I 
  regarded 
  as 
  adult 
  birds 
  that 
  had 
  passed 
  the 
  summer, 
  and 
  had 
  

   bred, 
  or 
  tried 
  to 
  breed, 
  in 
  this 
  country), 
  I 
  pointed 
  out 
  that 
  parts 
  

   of 
  the 
  British 
  Islands 
  lie 
  within 
  the 
  geographical 
  breeding 
  range 
  

   of 
  this 
  species, 
  which 
  is 
  recorded 
  to 
  have 
  been 
  found 
  in 
  summer 
  

   as 
  far 
  north 
  as 
  Jutland, 
  and 
  to 
  breed 
  commonly 
  in 
  Southern 
  

   Spain, 
  while 
  to 
  the 
  east 
  as 
  well 
  as 
  to 
  the 
  south 
  of 
  us 
  it 
  is 
  

   common. 
  

  

  There 
  is 
  a 
  considerable 
  amount 
  of 
  circumstantial 
  evidence 
  

   that 
  the 
  Eared 
  Grebe 
  has 
  bred 
  in 
  these 
  islands 
  in 
  former 
  years, 
  

   most 
  of 
  which 
  I 
  have 
  detailed 
  in 
  ' 
  British 
  Birds, 
  their 
  Nests 
  and 
  

   Eggs' 
  (vol. 
  vi. 
  p. 
  197, 
  et 
  seq.), 
  although 
  more 
  has 
  become 
  avail- 
  

   able 
  since 
  that 
  work 
  was 
  published. 
  But 
  the 
  direct 
  evidence 
  that 
  

   we 
  have 
  upon 
  this 
  point 
  is 
  scanty. 
  Pennant 
  (' 
  British 
  Zoology 
  ') 
  

   says 
  positively 
  that 
  these 
  birds 
  bred 
  in 
  the 
  fens 
  near 
  Spalding, 
  

   and 
  he 
  described 
  the 
  nest 
  and 
  eggs. 
  But 
  the 
  only 
  other 
  definite 
  

   evidence 
  that 
  I 
  have 
  been 
  able 
  to 
  find 
  is 
  that 
  of 
  the 
  late 
  E. 
  T. 
  

   Booth, 
  who 
  stated 
  (' 
  Plough 
  Notes') 
  that 
  a 
  full-plumaged 
  adult 
  

   and 
  a 
  couple 
  of 
  downy 
  mites 
  were 
  brought 
  to 
  him 
  by 
  a 
  marsh 
  - 
  

   man. 
  The 
  reason 
  why 
  these 
  specimens 
  were 
  not 
  preserved 
  was, 
  

   no 
  doubt, 
  that 
  Booth 
  included 
  in 
  his 
  collection 
  only 
  those 
  birds 
  

   which 
  he 
  had 
  actually 
  obtained 
  himself. 
  I 
  have 
  recently 
  had 
  

   occasion 
  to 
  point 
  out 
  {ante, 
  p. 
  266) 
  that 
  the 
  birds 
  which 
  bred 
  on 
  

   Chelsea 
  Common 
  in 
  1805 
  (figured 
  by 
  Sowerby 
  in 
  the 
  'British 
  

   Miscellany'), 
  which 
  have 
  been 
  sometimes 
  mentioned 
  as 
  belonging 
  

   to 
  the 
  species 
  now 
  under 
  consideration, 
  were 
  merely 
  Little 
  Grebes 
  

   in 
  the, 
  at 
  that 
  date, 
  little-known 
  breeding 
  plumage. 
  

  

  