PODICIPID^. 421 



one which had been caught alive close to that town. The bird afforded 

 us great entertainment when we saw it running about the floor of his 

 library at Lydeard House, perfecdj- tame and self-possessed. It was in 

 beautiful adult plumage, and, unfortunately, only lived a week, having 

 received a severe bruise at the time of its capture. Mr. Cecil Smith fed 

 it on small iish, worms, and a few beetles. Several adults in summer 

 plumage have been obtained in the south of the county, as will be seen 

 from the list we append. 



An Eared Grebe was secured at Plymouth, February 2ncl, 1864 (B., MS. Notes) ; 

 another, an adult in breeding-plumage, March 1870; another March 23rd, 1871, and 

 an immature bird October 1871 ; one December 16th, 1875 (J. G., Zool. 1870, p. 2142 ; 

 1872, pp. 264(1, 2940; 1876, p. 4785). 



Mr. E. A. 8. Elliot has shot immature birds on the Kingsbridge estuary. He obtained 

 one there in November 1891. 



An adult, in full breeding-plumage, was sliot off Paignton in May 185.3, and is now 

 in the Torquay Musr-uin (Von H., Zool. 1874, p. 3908) ; and another adult was obtained 

 at Torquay, January 7th, 1871 (J. H. G., Zool. 1871, p. 2631). 



A perfect example of an adult in full dress, secured at Dawlish, March 22ad, 1874, 

 was seen by us in the flesh. An immature bird occurred on the Exe estuary in 

 November 1851 (F. W. L. R.), and another near Topshain, December 1st, 18(i3 ; also 

 an adult December 1867 (E. P., Trans. Devon. Assoc, viii. p. 296) ; and an immature 

 bird November 1891. 



In Cornwall, both Mr. llodd and Dr. Bullmore considered the Eared 

 more common than the Sclavonian Grebe, the former having in his col- 

 lection a fine specinjen in the simimer plumage from the Helford river, 

 and mentioning another, which we have also seen, in the Truro Museum, 

 said on the label attached to it to have been caught under St. Just, in 

 Falmouth Harbour. Further to the east this species becomes rarer, and, 

 according to Mr. Mansel-Pleydell, is the scarcest of the genus on Dorset 

 waters, although one or two have been obtained in the adult phimage. 

 We have no record of this Grebe from Somerset. The Eared Grebe is a 

 southern species, nesting commonly in Italy, X.E. Africa, &c., and is very 

 rare in the northern countries of Europe. 



Little Grebe. Tachyha^tes fimiatiUs (Tunstall). 



[Dabchick, Dipchick.] 



Resident, numerous and generally distributed, inhabiting quiet pools 

 and ponds. Breeds. Mo.st frequently seen in winter (November and 

 December), when probaldy immigrants arrive from other parts, and its 

 numbers are greatly increased. It then frequents the estuaries on the 

 south coast, the Exeter Canal, and sheets of water adjoining the sea. At 

 the end of November 1803, several ascended drains discharging into tho 

 river E.\e, from a hou.se on its banks, a mile above Topsham, and were 

 capturjd. The Little Grebe occasionally visits Lundy Island (Trans. 

 Devon. Assoc, viii. p. ;30!J). This, the smallest member of thr- family, is 

 also the most common, being the only species resident throughout tho 

 county. The changes in its jilumagc are not so conspicuous as in tho 

 larger Grebes, the chief one being that in tho summer the adult male 



