1060 POD1CEPS FLUVIATILIS. 



"Wing 3-9 ; tarsus 1-8 ; outer and middle toe 1-8 : bill at front 0-82. (Nepal) Length 9-4 to 9-0 ; wing 3-9 to 

 3-95 : tarsus 1-3 to 1-4 ; bill at front 07 to OTS (Scully). 

 Iris dull golden ; bill black, with a white tip, base and round the gape pea-green ; legs and feet blackish green ; 

 inside of tarsus palo olive-green. In the breeding-season there is a yellow spot at the gape. 



Breeding -plum age (Ceylon). Chin, gorge, and front of cheeks blackish brown ; head and hind neck black-brown, 

 pervaded on the head with grey ; ear-coverts, sides and front of neck glossy chestnut, the feathers slightly tipped 

 with white ; back, scapulars, rump, and wing-coverts brown ; the interscapulary region and scapulars with the 

 feathers tipped with grey ; primaries paler brown than the wing-coverts, white at the base; secondaries white, 

 washed with brown at the terminal portion of the outer webs ; feathers round the rump brown, their bases 

 tawny yellow ; chest and flanks brownish, the feathers tipped with white ; middle of the breast white, the bases 

 of the feathers brown at the sides ; lower flanks and vent greyish brown, the former with the bases of the 

 feathers yellow, like the rump ; under wing white. 



Some examples are much whiter than others, and are apparently birds in their second year, as the white under surface 

 is characteristic of youth. 



In winter there is no rufous on the neck, but the throat is rufous-buff, extending on to the ear-coverts, and the chin 

 and gorge are whitish. 



Young. The chick is covered with dark grey down. 



Immature (India, B. Mus.). Chin and throat white ; ear-coverts, sides of neck, and head pale rufous, the upper surface 

 paler brown than in adults ; the under surface white. " Bill, culmen black, rest light orange ; legs greenish ochre, 

 soles black; iris reddish yellow " (Cripps). The red of the neck is more or less absent in some specimens. 



Obs. Although the Indian, Chinese, and Philippine races of this Dabchick have been separated from the European 

 form by some authors, there appears to be no valid reason for such a determination. The species varies some- 

 what according to country and climate, but not, so far as I can see, in any constant manner, and accompanied 

 by any corresponding difference in size. European examples are, I think, darker than Indian, particularly on 

 the under surface ; there is more black on the chin, and especially more brown on the outer webs of the secondaries, 

 which latter characteristic has given rise to the separation of the eastern form as a white-winged bird ; there is 

 perhaps less of the rufous-chestnut on the neck, but the plumage is of the same general character. As will be 

 seen in the synonymy, TunstaU's title has priority over Gmelin's generally adopted name. The race inhabiting 

 the Malay archipelago appears to have a longer bill than the Indian ; but I observe that Ilerr Meyer identifies 

 the Celebean bird as P. minor. A Timor specimen in the national collection has the bill at front 0'9inch. 



The Australian Little Grebe, P. novce-hollandice, is united with the present species by Messrs. Sehlegel and Dresser ; 

 but one or two specimens I have examined do not correspond well enough with the latter for me to consider the 

 two forms identical ; so for the present I keep the Australian bird distinct. It has the chin, cheeks, and throat 

 black, the rufous coloration being confined to a broad stripe down the sides if tin necJc, the fore neck beneath the black 

 being pale brownish, passing into the greyish brown of the chest. Other species not very dissimilar are /'. nestor, 

 Gould, from Australia, and P. rufipeetus, Gray, from New Zealand, which have the head and cheeks striped with 

 grey. In the former the head is brown and the throat mouse-grey ; in the latter the head is black and the 

 fore neck reddish. 



Distribution. — The Dabchick is widely distributed throughout the low country of Ceylon, besides which 

 it lias, I am informed, recently found its way up to the Nuwara-Eliya lake, which has an altitude of 6200 feet. 

 It is nowhere seen iu larger numbers than on the Colombo Lake, where it is a permanent resident ; on some 

 occasions I have seen a flock of more than thirty on the larger sheet of water, and, as a general rule, there 

 are a dozen or more in this locality. It is not uncommon in the tank-districts from Kurunegala northwards, 

 and I have met with it in small village tanks near Trincomalie. Its having ascended the highest mountains 

 in the island and discovered the newly constructed lake at Nuwara Eliya is very remarkable, as there is a rise 

 to the plateau, both on its eastern and western side, of more than 2000 feet, both streams flowing down 

 precipitous and forest-clad gorges ; but I am credibly informed by several people, and among them by 

 Mr. Thwaites, of Hakgala, who pays particular attention to the birds of the district, that it has been seen 

 there during the cool season. 



In Iudia this Grebe is abundant : there is, writes Mr. Hume, scarcely any considerable-sized pond, 



